Chapter 838: Cheating Against the BOSS
"Anne, stand back and block the exit with the King's Protection shield. You will go and grab the core when I tell you to, understood?"
"Got it, Leader."
Anne stood before the entrance where they came from and crashed the shield into the ground. Shortly after, a translucent, glass-like barrier emerged over her and sealed the entrance completely.
At this moment, the dark Chaos liquid sensed the pure strength of Order from Anne's shield and became restless. Shortly after, human-like creatures emerged from it one by one. They stood up slowly and in the position of their right palms were swords coalesced from the dark Chaos. Judging from their appearance, they appeared like Rhode's shadow that was on the wall.
... It's a pity that Chaos can only replicate appearances and not skills and attributes. How sad for them.
"Are those creatures the ones that you said will replicate you?"
As Rhode inwardly ridiculed the idiotic BOSS, Celestina asked out of a sudden. Rhode looked at her curiously and discovered the glint of excitement in her scarlet pupils as she stared at the Chaos Creatures. For some unknown reason, Rhode felt that her gaze was rather menacing.
"That's right. But..."
"What are we waiting for? Attack!"
Celestina jumped into battle right away. She brandished the thorny whip in her hand as she darted forward. The thorny whip lashed across the air and brought a trail of afterimages. The black flames on it erupted, wreaking havoc on the battlefield. The Chaos Creatures instantly realized who their target was and quickly pounced on her.
Why do I feel like she's much more eager than usual?
Rhode shrugged before shifting his gaze to Celestina who sighed in helplessness.
"Go on and coordinate with her attacks. Leave here to me and Snow."
"Yes, Master."
Celia bowed solemnly before raising her sword that was surging in silver-whitish flames. She expanded her wings and burst forward in a straight line of glaring white radiance.
At this moment, the other Chaos Creatures also launched their attacks. The core had summoned a total of 10 Chaos Creatures—six were occupied by Celestina and Celia while four darted toward Rhode. Even though they were in human form, their movements resembled wild animals that widened their mouths and growled.
"I'm not as easy as you think..."
Rhode gazed at the shadows and his eyes glinted in a cold radiance. He raised his sword, leaped forward, and arrived before one of them. The enemy was also quick in its reaction, where it swiftly brandished the sword as though it was well prepared for his attack. However, how would Rhode be that easily hit?
The instant the shadow brandished the sword, Rhode laid his sword before him and negated it.
Clang!
Rhode followed through, stretching his right arm forward and the sword in his hand meandered like a viper. At the next moment, it extended and aimed for the heart.
Clang!
The shadow swiftly swung its left hand where a sharp blade emerged from its wrist. It deflected Rhode's attack trajectory, causing it to pierce into its shoulder instead.
——!
Rhode felt as though his sword had struck a combination of strong adhesive and rubber as the massive suction gripped onto his blade. At this moment, the other three shadows darted toward him and brandished their swords from all directions.
Rhode revealed a sinister smile. Then, he loosened his grip on the sword and vanished in a flash.
"Snow."
Ssss...!
The little girl inside the hovering water ball brandished her tiny arms and a whizzing blizzard shrouded the enemies. Shortly after, the entire ground was covered in frost that enveloped them entirely. After the blizzard stopped, Snow realized that they weren't harmed at all. As Chaos Creatures, such a pure attack wouldn't deal too much damage to them. But even so, this was enough.
The four Chaos Creatures turned around at the same time and a shadow flitted before them.
Rhode emerged behind one of them and vanished at the next second. When he reappeared, one of the Chaos Creatures suddenly cracked as though countless blades had struck it from every direction. In the blink of an eye, the pitiful Chaos Creature shattered into bits.
This ambush stunned the remaining three Chaos Creatures. Then, at this moment, Rhode and Snow struck together.
"Tsk!"
Snow pointed her finger at where 10 crystal birds flew out of the water ball and soared toward the enemies. Their razor-sharp crystal wings streaked across the air and spiraled in deadly trajectories. The Chaos Creatures scattered hurriedly, but as they were disrupted by the ice birds, Rhode emerged behind one of them again and a shimmering radiance flashed, splitting the enemy in half.
This can't get any easier.
Rhode's eyes glinted. Although the shadow possessed equal strength as him, it was also their biggest weakness. Perhaps the situation would be dire if the shadows replicated someone in another class. However, Spirit Swordsmen were advantageous in this situation because they didn't possess powerful strength, couldn't cast magic spells, and held lower-level sword skills compared to pure Swordsmen. The problem for the enemies was that the Spirit Swordsman's biggest threat was their unique summoning cards. Due to the limitation of the core, it could only replicate the physical being, which meant that it had no access to the summoning cards at all.
Without the assistance of the summoning cards, the shadows were only second-rate swordsmen.
The Chaos Creatures raised their swords and disappeared in a flash.
At the same time, Rhode's blade had already streaked across the air and his eyes glinted in disdain.
At this moment, there were none of the so-called beings in this white space. The three shadows had violated all common sense and if it weren't for the clash of blades and eruptions of blade airs, perhaps no one would believe that a battle was going on.
"Snow!"
Rhode yelled. The little mermaid extended her tiny hands and clapped.
Smack...!
An ice column burst out of the ground and struck like a white viper meandering forward. Then, the ice column exploded with countless razor-sharp ice edges bursting in all directions. At this moment, one of the shadows shrieked and emerged out of thin air to avoid the lethal attack. But, before it dodged successfully, a sharp blade had punctured its heart.
Boom!
Rhode emerged before it and nailed it to the ground entirely. Then, he extended his left hand and a card appeared and vanished in the next second.
[Sacrificial Shift]
Rhode withdrew the sword and dodged another enemy's ambush swiftly. At this moment, the Chaos Creature that was nailed to the ground suddenly let out a blood-curdling screech, extending its arm to grab the ambusher. Then, the black grease-like substance on its body fell off and revealed a Skeleton Soldier who slowly stood up on its feet. Its empty eye sockets emanated a creepy radiance from its spiritual flames.
"That's the way!"
The Chaos Creatures were baffled by the Skeleton Soldier's emergence and it was this delay of a split second that cost their chances of winning. In the blink of an eye, the Skeleton Soldier brandished its weapon and decapitated the Chaos Creatures instantly. Their bodies melted to the ground lifelessly like candlesticks.
"Phew..."
Rhode let out a sigh of relief. Although the Chaos Creatures possessed the same strength and sword skills as him, the situation was very much different in battle. After all, Rhode couldn't bend his waist for 90 degrees to avoid an attack. Judging from this, these creatures couldn't exactly be considered his replicas.
I wonder how the situation is over at Celestina's side...
Rhode shifted his gaze to the two sisters wrangling with the Chaos Creatures. As usual, Celia fought with her stable attack style. Currently, they were almost at the same level as Rhode. But as a pure 'swordsman', the level of Celia's sword skills was higher than his, which was why these enemies failed to threaten her. After all, in terms of sword skill levels, Rhode couldn't possibly beat Celia. Celia could even see through Rhode's shadow clones and identify the true presence. Even though the Chaos Creatures were seemingly hard to deal with, they eventually couldn't withstand the sacred flames.
On the other hand...
Shing!
Celestina lashed the thorny whip on the Chaos Creatures and the dark flames on the whip devoured them entirely. The piercing pain from the negative dark flames was unbearable even for the Chaos Creatures. They screamed while rolling on the ground and begging for mercy, but Celestina didn't give a damn. She glared at her prey and continued to lash the thorny whip mercilessly.
"Who told you to treat me this rudely! Now you know how powerful I am! Hmph! You asked for it! Bast*rd!"
Smack!
Celestina smashed the brain of one of the Chaos Creatures into bits with the thorny whip. But, this wasn't all. Her eyes glinted in a scarlet radiance and she brandished the whip again. The unfortunate Chaos Creature crumbled to the ground and she stomped her foot on it, where a scarlet magical ritual emerged under it and it shrieked pitifully.
"Ah... How wonderful. I'm finally feeling much better! You bast*rd. Do you think that I will obey you like a slave if you treat me this way?! Now, you should know how powerful I am! Bast*rd!"
"..."
Rhode turned around as though he didn't witness anything. Yes... At least he finally understood why Celestina was so passionate about this battle now. As for everything that happened... He didn't hear or see anything.
Boom!
The scorching silver-whitish flames announced the disappearance of the last Chaos Creature. However, this wasn't the end because as the last Chaos Creature was 'cremated' by Celia, the dark sphere floating in midair transformed into a shape stacked by multiple squares. Then, as it changed its form, the scattered shadows on the ground became thicker and denser.
"————"
In an instant, a dark brilliance enveloped the entire space. Apart from Anne who was protected by the Order shield, everything was devoured by complete darkness. The ground shook and one by one, the Chaos Creatures emerged in Rhode's shadow appearance once again. But it wasn't as simple this time as hundreds of Chaos Creatures surrounded his group.
As expected. This is their second form, eh? The BOSS is finally transforming it seems.
Rhode wasn't worried at all. Instead, his eyes glinted in ridicule.
Alright then. I shall show you the skills of a Spirit Swordsman.
Rhode raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Taboo Halo activated.
The dim yellow halo emerged under his feet and spread across the entire battlefield. Celestina's dark dress instantly became much more luxurious while Celia's silver armor emanated a dazzling radiance. On the other hand, Snow grew up immediately. Rhode threw a scarlet card forward, and the Hell Hound burst out from the smoke and snarled.
Celestina and Celia were familiar with Rhode's Taboo Halo and they gathered their strength to launch their attacks. But at this moment, something strange happened.
The Chaos Creatures that surrounded them suddenly twisted and turned like living clay. Not only that, but the Taboo Halo also vanished!
Master canceled the Taboo Halo?!
"Master?"
"What are you doing, Master?"
Celestina stared at him furiously while Celia stared blankly. However, Rhode didn't respond. He ordered the Hell Hound to charge forward and quickly commanded the sisters.
"Use your flames to burn down everything in here!"
Rhode tossed the blade into the Hell Hound like a javelin—after a series of excited and joyous howls, the Hell Hound exploded!
Rolling red flames burst out and devoured the Chaos Creatures. Although the sisters didn't know why Rhode activated the Taboo Halo only for a few seconds, they knew that this wasn't the time for questions and hurriedly displayed their strength. Shortly after, the dark negative flames, silver-whitish sacred flames, and scarlet flames blazed. The panicky Chaos Creatures hurriedly gathered to avoid the menacing flames. But it was all too late because the tri-colored flames had engulfed the place completely. There was nothing else apart from the blaze of red, white, and black and the twisted Chaos had ways of escape.
Finally, the tri-colored flames merged at a single point as though being absorbed.
They were being absorbed to the place where the dark sphere was!
"—————!"
There was an indescribable sound. Then, the dark sphere shed its outer layer and revealed its core.
It was a prismatic white crystal!
"Anne!"