Chapter 329: Siege
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Even against Allen's torrential barrage of spear thrusts, "Aiden" was beginning to find himself outpaced.
The silver spear tip left shallow cuts and grazing wounds all over his body.
"—Gospel."
Just as he narrowly sidestepped a fatal thrust aimed squarely at his throat, "Aiden" coldly spat out a single word.
VMMMM—!
At point-blank range, an invisible, air-distorting sonic cannon violently erupted.
However, as the man recognized as the "Fastest in the City," Allen's neural response and movement speed were absurd.
His body seemed entirely weightless. Bending backward at an angle that completely defied human anatomy, he miraculously evaded the blast the very microsecond his spear tip met the distortion.
The sonic cannon roared past, brushing the bridge of his nose, and slammed into the distant cavern wall, leaving behind a perfectly smooth, massive crater.
Allen dodged several consecutive sonic blasts with the same terrifying reaction speed.
Moving like a streak of black lightning, he danced madly along the very edge of death and surged right back into "Aiden's" face.
His spear, carrying the absolute intent to kill, was less than an inch from "Aiden's" throat.
Yet even so, the clone's face retained that eternal, frigid lack of expression.
There was no fear, no panic—as if the spear about to impale his neck was nothing more than a harmless twig.
Then, he uttered that word a second time.
"—Gospel."
But this time, it was fundamentally different.
The sonic wave was no longer a directional cannon blast. Instead, centering on his body, an invisible ring of pure destruction expanded outward in a perfect 360-degree sphere.
The sudden change in tactics caught Allen—who was entirely focused on his thrust—completely off guard. He had no time to react.
BOOM—!
Allen felt as though an invisible sledgehammer had slammed directly into his chest. Caught in the ferocious sonic shockwave, he was blasted backward instantly.
And in that split second, as he lost control of his body in mid-air, a crimson Lumina Slash tore through the space between them, seizing the opening to deliver a lethal blow.
The sword light ripped through the air, carrying a screeching sonic boom.
Allen's pupils contracted sharply. Forcing his body to twist in mid-air, he threw his spear horizontally across his chest.
CLANG—!!
The spear met the Lumina Slash, erupting in blinding sparks.
The overwhelmingly massive force behind the strike accelerated Allen's backward momentum even further, sending him crashing violently into a cloud of dust and debris behind him.
"Bastard!"
Allen pushed himself out of a pile of shattered rock, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and scowled, his face twisting with uncontrollable fury and annoyance.
Matching strength with weakness, overpowering slow with fast—he was supposed to have the absolute advantage in this fight. Yet, he was the one being thoroughly restrained and pressured by his opponent's magic and techniques.
His rage was climbing exponentially with every passing second.
Seeing that even Allen had been repelled, Hedin's frown deepened.
Hogni had arguably fallen victim to a 'first-sight kill' by that bizarre Five-Slash Instant Strike because he lacked intelligence on it.
But Allen was already on his guard. By all logic, he should have secured a victory through sheer raw power by now.
Instead, Allen was proving completely incapable of swiftly taking down the imposter.
As that thought crossed his mind, Hedin's gaze instinctively flicked toward the real Aiden standing beside them.
Aiden was intently watching the battle between Allen and the clone. He felt Hedin's gaze but simply shook his head.
He was almost completely certain now: the Dungeon had genuinely created "another him" modeled flawlessly after his template.
Combined with the bizarre dream he had experienced that night... a profound premonition took root in his mind.
If his real body died here, his soul wouldn't return to Heaven.
It would be forcefully ripped away by the Dungeon and shoved into the body of this clone.
Just like... Alise.
"End this quickly. Take him out, then go help Ottar."
Hedin's icy voice suddenly cut through the tension.
He could hear it. From the other side of the main battlefield, a furious, bestial roar belonging to a Boarman tore through the air.
The sector engulfed in golden light and roaring thunder was experiencing increasingly violent collisions, as if threatening to tear the entire 28th Floor apart.
Ottar... was using magic.
To force Ottar—the immovable mountain—into using magic in such a short amount of time meant this opponent named "Childe" was far more powerful than Hedin had anticipated.
Even though he still didn't believe Ottar could lose, it was better to play it safe. They needed to eliminate this "Aiden" immediately, pool all their combat strength, and help Ottar crush Childe.
"Captain!"
Hearing Hedin's words, Tione and the others looked toward their own captain, Finn.
A flash of resolve passed through Finn's azure eyes, and he gave a heavy nod.
"Go!"
"Ohhh! I've been waiting for this!"
Tiona was the first to act, excitedly hoisting her massive double-bladed weapon, Urga. Charging forward like a runaway stallion, she yelled, "He might look exactly like Aiden, but a fake is a fake! I'm not holding back!"
"Hmph."
Tione slammed her fists together, producing a dull thud. She cracked her neck, her eyes turning glacial. "Though I'd much rather go beat the crap out of the jerk in the armor... anyone who hurts my comrades is unforgivable."
"We should've done this from the start. Stop dawdling," Bete cursed impatiently. Blurring into a silver afterimage, he joined the charge.
"Hmph."
Seeing Bete and the others launch a coordinated assault on "Aiden," Allen snorted in severe annoyance. His figure flickered and vanished, leaving behind only a shallow crater from the sheer force of his launch.
Three top-tier Level 5s and one Level 6 launched a simultaneous siege.
Tiona's bone-crushing horizontal slash was narrowly evaded as "Aiden" executed a flawless sideways dodge.
Tione's short blades struck like venomous snakes, only to be perfectly parried by his flaming sword.
But just as his vision shifted, his momentum temporarily spent, a silver whip kick howled toward the back of his head, carrying a ferocious gust of wind. It was Bete.
"Aiden" reacted with divine speed, sharply raising his left arm to block the devastating kick.
Despite the successful block, the sheer kinetic force behind it sent him flying.
He tumbled through the air before his feet slammed solidly into the ground, violently plowing a deep trench several meters long into the earth.
However, in the very next moment.
A silver meteor was already descending upon him once again.
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