Chapter 67: Pseudo-Commander
"Again!" Rohan shouted.
Elane didn’t need instructing, though, already halfway through the motions of firing another shot.
Her second arrow formed and flew in the same motion, fast enough that the air in the chamber twisted around it as it spun. This one aimed lower, toward Liam’s left thigh.
Liam’s barrier flashed back into existence.
CRACKK!
The arrow hit, its speed not giving Liam enough time to dodge, and this time the protective barrier visibly buckled under the stress of the second arrow hitting it. A web of pale fractures started to spread across the surface before it absorbed the shot and flung the remaining force outward in a burst of distorted air.
Liam’s face twisted.
"Impossible! The strength of that shot is well into the Elite tier, but Elite tier Spike Beast bows don’t exist! What tricks are you playing on me, wench??"
His words flew at Elane, but she ignored anything he had to say. The Spike Beasts at their flank were close to catching up by this point — Rohan and Elane knew they had to hurry things up before Liam could regain the upper hand.
’We only have a few minutes before they breach into the chamber... Fuck.’
Rohan knew what he had to do. He didn’t like the idea one bit, but their situation was too dire to consider the potential consequences of his actions.
He brandished his spear and made a hurried sprint towards Liam. "Keep applying pressure from the rear! I’ll distract him from up close. He won’t be able to deal with me so easily thanks to my Firestone Skin."
Close-quarters combat. Rohan considered it his forte, but his confidence was severely shot in the current situation. Not only was this the real world, where death was final, but he was facing off against a far more formidable opponent than he ever had before.
This would be the real test of his abilities!
’He has multiple Elite Genetic Armaments, and probably an Elite Gene too... But forget that, Rohan! You can win this fight regardless!’ Rohan thought, pumping himself up.
He burst forward with his spear held low and tight to his body, the ash-grey layers of his Firestone Skin flaring brighter under the faint aurora and moonlight filtering through the cracks above.
The rough stone chitin-like texture coating his skin made him look less like a man and more like something belonging to this dead world, but it didn’t seem to faze Liam one bit.
"Neat trick you have there. But it won’t help you." Liam scowled back in contempt towards the incoming foe.
His mouth formed a wicked smile as a faint rumbling started to overcome the entire chamber.
That huge, still evolving half-corpse lying still on the centre platform set itself in motion, clambering from its spot like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
"The evolution might not be complete yet, but it’s still a Pseudo-Commander tier Beast. Good luck facing that." Liam burst into laughter as he deftly moved behind the body of the beast, allowing it to block Elane’s incoming arrow for him.
Instead of being slowed dramatically by Liam’s barrier, the arrow sank into the skin of the Pseudo-Commander barely a few inches before it came to a complete stop.
Their most powerful attack, the full force of an Elite tier bow, barely even injured the beast on direct contact!
’Fuck... This isn’t good.’ Rohan shifted his body, retreating to the side instead of carrying on his charge. His own spear could only deliver about 75% of the power a single strike of Elane’s arrow caused. Even if he came within striking distance, he wouldn’t be able to do much to it.
’The good thing is that it looks like the beast is moving away from the normal Spike Beast archetype. Those glowing spikes growing out of its back don’t look like they will budge any time soon. I don’t think this thing is a ranged beast anymore.’
This relieved some of the pressure he and Elane were experiencing. If that thing were still able to launch a barrage of Spikes, he didn’t think either of them could survive even a single direct hit.
Behind him, Elane shifted her footing and drew the string of her bow once more. Despite her previous shot only penetrating an inch or two into the terrifying beast’s skin, she didn’t waver. She couldn’t, not in this situation.
She needed every ounce of confidence she could get if they were to come out of this battle as the victor.
The beast was already heavily injured due to whatever Liam had done to it in their absence, so she still had some confidence they could beat it.
’If I keep dealing it endless blows, it’ll have to succumb eventually.’
The key was whether her energy capacity could keep up. The Origin Energy drainage per shot was already much higher than before now that the bow had evolved to Elite tier.
"You should both feel honoured," Liam said, his voice low and tight as he dealt with his own injuries. He wasn’t left unscathed from this fight so far, particularly from Rohan’s surprise attack. His barrier remained permanently active, not willing to take any chances.
"To be standing here at the edge of something monumental and still choosing to throw your lives away in resistance."
Neither Rohan nor Elane answered.
Talking was what Liam wanted. If he could just buy another few seconds, another few minutes, then the balance would tip in his direction. The moment the horde of Spike Beasts outside reached the chamber, the battle would be over for Rohan and Elane.
So instead of words, Rohan gave him a taste of cold, hard steel.
...Or whatever material his spear was made of.
The horned rabbit spear flashed upward in a savage diagonal arc, aimed not for Liam’s torso but for the side of his barrier on his wounded arm. Pain was one of life’s biggest distractions, and that was precisely what Rohan aimed for at the moment.
Liam looked over at him in shock and surprise.
"What? Did you think that just because you riled that half-corpse awake, I would switch my targets? Don’t be a moron; you already made the mistake of telling us all about how it’s just a hollow shell now.
You only have so much brainpower to work with; controlling over a thousand Normal tier beasts and now a Pseudo-Commander must be quite the handful. I wonder if you can handle all that with a little pain added on the side?" Rohan taunted him.