The Showdown 2/3

Grey's spear met with Valentine's fist, sending them both on opposite directions as they clashed.

"{Improved Handling!}"

Grey lifted his spear once more and charged at Valentine; he thrust his spear with all his might combined with all the enhancements and buffs he acquired. Valentine raised both of her fists to block the thrust.

The spear bashed her fists, sending out a strong shockwave powerful enough to fling the rest of her group back. Rudolf and Shialynn fell on their feet as they locked their sights on the battle.

"Thousand Fists!"

Valentine launched a flurry of fast punches directed at Grey, with his immense speed, he managed to raise his spear to block every shower of blows which lasted for 10 seconds. In retaliation, Grey cast his skill {Lionheart}.

{Lionheart} was a skill only useable by swordsman, spearsmen, and any other close-quarter combat fighters; it gives the caster a field of perception around itself in which the caster can anticipate any attack as long as the enemy steps into the field. Valentine quickly lunged backwards out of the field, she knew the skill very well to avoid it.

"Ha!"

She raised her palms and then a double-bladed sword manifested within her palms out of her dimensional storage, she had decided to combat Grey in a close-quarter combat.

"Tsk, bring it on!" Grey taunted.

"I will show you the might, the blessing, of this country," Valentine's sword began to glow a faint gold similar to her aura.

"A Holy Sword!?" Liz took a step back; she knew a holy sword when she sees one but was it really a holy sword?

Valentine then dashed towards Grey with her double-edged sword raised behind her head, Grey's skill detected her, but she was too fast.

In a blink of an eye, Valentine's Sword barely missed Grey's neck as he managed to evade in time, stepping back just a mere second before the sword could reach him. He then countered by swinging his spear below and aimed at Valentine's exposed legs only for her to immediately block it with the lower edge of her sword.

The two then transitioned into a frantic clash of weapons and muscle with Grey's enhanced long spear against Valentine's double-edged blade.

As the fight raged below them, Artemis and Caitlyn couldn't help but comment on the battle with their predictions.

"Interesting, that boy,"

"He is, Zack, maybe he has help from the blue lady you speak of?"

"Quite possibly."

"Look at him; he is holding his own even though Valentine is supposedly giving her all,"

Valentine then used {Pillar Of Swords}, a spell that summons dozens of swords from above and is launched directly at the designated target. A big yellow circle appeared and hovered a few meters above Valentine and out from it came dozens upon dozens of sword of gold, roughly the size of a long spear. The swords were calm at first, hovering over her head, and suddenly they flew in an instant towards Grey.

Grey's spear tried to evade by jumping to the right only to be stunned that the sword followed his position, frantically, he raised his spear to block. The cast swords smashed against his spear before shattering into dust, the force of the smash sent him flying a few meters, his body crashed into the floor and rolled a few more meters before finally stopping.

His spear had been pushed against his stomach due to the multiple impacts, making it hard for him to breath. His friends looked on in horror as Valentine slowly walked towards the downed Grey, her sword glowing and her body shining that golden hue. Her eyes were frowning at him, seemingly telling him that she was disappointed.

{Pillar of Swords} was a common spell, normally it would launch a literal raining pillar of swords above a specified spot but Valentine's version of the spell was different because she was once a Papal Scripture of the Theocracy, it caused Grey this fatal error.

Though he is unable to breathe, he was neither injured nor cut. He struggled to stand up, a raging pain would make him feel weak and he'd fall down once more to his knees.

Suddenly, he began to feel weaker all over, his skin began to look pale as he began struggling to keep his eyes opened. He fell down once more to the white floor, he began to cough uncontrollably and his nerves have begun failing.

He felt a numbness take over his body as his eyes finally shut. He was experiencing Magic Asphyxiation and it was about to kill him in just a few more seconds.

So this is it

He thought to himself.

He always knew he lacked good judgment and was naive in most fields but what he did right now was what he finally was sure of doing. He wanted to protect his friends, or what remains of his perceived family.

"{Heavy Slash!}"

"{Shuriken Rain!}"

"{Magic Snipe!}"

He suddenly heard familiar voices in the distance and three pairs of steps approach by his side.

He no longer had the strength to open his eyes but he was sure, his friends were now with him. And he was right, Shialynn, Liz, and Rudolf ran towards their downed friend and surrounded him, Shialynn kneeled down next to his head and placed her hands on his forehead.

"{Heal}" She whispered, her hands glowed green as she transferred a small percentage of her mana to replenish the downed spearsmen.

The spells they cast against Valentine were easily avoided and the beautiful golden red eyed maiden was still walking towards them, her presence ever so menacing.

"You idiots now cool?" Lily asked, her attention fixated on Valentine.

"Shit, damn right!" Rudolf replied with a smug look.

Shialynn walked towards Liz' right side, arranging her posture to that of an assassin, it was time for them to work together, even though their other player is out of the fight, the three of them as a team may still stand a chance against golden warrior walking towards them.

"Let's do this," Shialynn said below her breath.

"Well then, you two charge while I launch the arrows of hell at her! go!"

"Right!" They both replied.

Shialynn and Rudolf charged at Valentine, Rudolf had his sword raised while Shialynn had her daggers on both hands gripped and ready.

"{Shadow Clone!}"

In an instant, two clones of Shialynn manifested behind her and they too joined in the charge, seeing the charging group, Valentine gave out a smile.

Valentine was thrilled, this was the outcome Artemis and Caitlyn had in mind, this thought gave Valentine more confidence, knowing that she did not fail her two masters.

Gripping her double-edged sword with a firm tight grip, she swung her sword with immense speed, and from her sword came a line of magic that was sharp enough to slice an early A-rank in half. The line flew out in a square wave and flew towards the direction of the charging group.

Despite being fast, both the Shialynns and Rudolf evaded the line and continued their charge.

"{Blazing Arrow!}"

A flaming arrow of magic sped over their heads and rammed Valentine, surprising her. The arrow exploded upon impact, slowing down the maiden as she held her chest.

"Tsk, she took a direct Blazing Arrow!" Liz remarked.

"Keep on doing it! Distract her, just don't hit us!" Rudolf commanded.

And the two sides finally met each other. Rudolf and Shialynn positioned themselves in front and behind Valentine's with Shialynn's clone harassing her on her sides. Their swords clanged as both metal and muscle clashed in this brawl. As Valentine was blocking Rudolf's swing, Shialynn managed to evade the lower end of her sword and struck her left thigh with her daggers.

But the daggers did nothing, her clothes were as hard as mithril armor enchanted with {Protection V}, {Unbreaking V}, {Fire Resistance IV}, {Projectile Protection IV}, and {Blast Protection IV}. Valentine then noticed her attempt and hurriedly kicked her with her leg, her kick hit Shialynn's face stunning her.

Shialynn's clone then managed to land their own strikes and both ended the same as before, her clothes were tough.

The clones then disappeared as Shialynn could not maintain them anymore with her magic, the two of them backed up as Liz continued to shoot Valentine with enhanced arrows.

Valentine however, just tanked her arrows.

"Tsk, we need to attack her at the same time with our trump cards,"

"Rudolf, exposing our trump cards now would leave us at a disadvantage if they fail!"

"What choice do we have?!"

The situation became a staredown, the three of them staring down at Valentine who was waiting for their next move.

"Wait, that man is moving again," Caitlyn pointed down at Grey, he was finally standing up but was rather clumsy and still visibly weak.

He's friends, however, have not noticed their friend's movement.

"Liz! We need to use our trump cards!" Rudolf shouted.

"What!?" Of course, Liz disagreed.

"Just do it! It's our only chance,"

Valentine, Artemis and Caitlyn were confused if they were really shouting their strategy for them to hear or they didn't think they'd hear them speak.

"Let's go!" Rudolf gave out one final shout.

Liz lowered her bow and sighed, she began to utter a few words below her breathe and raised her bow when she finished.

Shialynn closed her eyes and combined her two daggers into her right palm.

Rudolf knelt his legs slightly as he placed his longsword behind his back.

Valentine, seeing this, immediately poised herself at the ready, anticipating their triple attack.

"{Arrow Of Lightning!}" A storm cloud formed above the arena, surprising Artemis and Caitlyn. It then began to rain and with that rain came thunderous lightning, the lightning began to strike at random places.

Liz was glowing white, the thunder roared and the lightning began to concentrate around her, a strange wind began to blow as she pulled the strings of her bow. The arrow she loaded began to glow and as it glowed, a huge bolt of lightning struck down upon it.

A tornado formed around her as she pulled the string of her bow at max, the sight was a combination of shock and awe.

This was there trump card, a shock and awe tactic.

Both Liz and Rudolf are actually on mid stages of A-rank, as for Shialynn was at peak of B-rank.

As the storm raged and the tornado twirled, it was time for Shialynn and Rudolf to reveal their cards.

"{Monster Morphing!}"

"{Perfect Unknowable!}"

Rudolf also glowed, this time he glowed black. His sword turning into a black abbysal form. Void wings sprouted from his back and he began to fly, his face became distorted and from his eyes turns purple.

Shialynn went completely invisible, her presence could no longer be detected.

This was their power, the height of their magic prowess. The power of 9th and 10th tier magic.

The {Monster Morphing} was a 10th tier magic spell that allows anyone to take on the shape and abilities of various monsters. Once you kill monster, you'll absorb its "essence" and instantly become of it.

Once you've killed a monster and it's been absorbed by you, you'll need to trigger the morph and choose which entity you want to become.

What Rudolf transform was an Elite Wrath. Unlike other wraths, it is a A-rank monster and has wings and are far more faster than a regular one.

Don't know what are Wraths are? Wraths are very rare and dangerous beings that appeared in nights and have destroyed countless towns.

They have special ability of teleportation, and long range weapons are completely useless against them. Only close-quarter combat could beat them.

Anyone made eye contact on them became aggressive and kill the victim brutally.

And as for their weakness, water could harm them.

Nobody knew where did they came from but few scholars theorize they came from the Nether realm.

Rudolf slightly remembers one time when his party and other adventurer parties were in a mission to elimite few Wraths. The experience fighting against them, the terrible fate of some adventurers who got killed by them, and the intimidating eyes he had looked before killing an Elite Wrath.

[IMAGES]

{Perfect Unknowable}, like the name suggest, it is a 9th Tier spell makes the user invisible to the naked eye. It can also erase one's traces and sounds, including the pitch of the user's voice from being heard, making the magic caster very difficult to detect if they do not have very high-level thief-type job classes. It is a perfect skill for all assassins.

Back to the fight, Valentine clutched her sword hard and she frowned, this was another type of fight. These people were no joke and they were indeed stronger than she anticipated, she must not fail! If she does, she may no longer regain the honor bestowed upon her by her two masters.

Artemis and Caitlyn's interests were piqued, this was a showdown they themselves did not anticipate, three magical monsters versus their magic maiden.

A battle to decide, who was stronger.

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References: Minecraft & Overlord

Minecraft: -{Protection V} -{Unbreaking V} -{Fire Resistance IV} -{Projectile Protection IV} -{Blast Protection IV} -Wraths = Endermans -{Monster Morohing} = Morph Mod

Overlord: -{Perfect Unknowable}