Outlands: Crimson sky (4)

Stella was delighted to hear Ajax's response.

" Before we go, let's introduce ourselves first to better understand each other." Stella suggested.

I have a divine rank heritage named "Golden Halo." As for my skills, I can manipulate a halo as an attack or defense mechanism.

Ajax was stunned to know that the legacy prodigy actually had such an insane heritage. Ajax took a second to digest the information before finally replying.

"I have an ancient rank heritage named Eternal Void. My ability is that I can coat whatever part of my body I want, enhancing that part.

Stella replied, "So that's the black substance in your body before."

After their brief introduction, they planned their route to the northern wall. It took them atleast 3 hours to plan the best possible route they could think of. By the time they finished, the moon was already shining above them. They decided to rest first while taking turns guarding each other.

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The next morning, Ajax and Stella moved at dawn to maximize their time. On their way, they encountered predator-ranked abominations that were wandering the forest. There were 3 monsters, and they all had the same appearance. The abominations were at least adults high and looked like stone knights with ruby eyes.

Ajax whispered, "Should we take them out?"

"As much as possible, I'd rather avoid combat, but it seems getting past them won't be an easy task. They seem to patrol the area. " Stella replied.

Ajax gazed at the stone knights and said, "So we fight."

Stella took out a silver sword that had golden linings "Yes, we fight. I'll go there and try to distract them. You hide in the shadows and wait for an opportunity to attack. "

Ajax brandished his abyssal axe and stepped in the shadows, vanishing without leaving any sound.

Stella used her skill and 2 haloes formed around her wrist. She got up and dashed towards the first knight. The knight saw this and took a stance, then bashed its shield three times as if challenging her. The knight did a sweep, and Stella slid under it. She got up and delivered a sweeping blow to the back of the knight. However, the knight rotated and blocked her with the shield, delivering consecutive slashes forcing her to move back and be on the defensive.

Stella did not panic and used her halo. The halo shot out of her wrist and it formed a massive golden shield, knocking back the golden knight. Stella then pushed the shield towards the knight, pushing it further. The knight tumbled, and that's when a shadow appeared behind it. The knight tried to defend, but Ajax was faster due to his enhancement, delivering a fatal blow to the knight's head, shattering it in the process.

[Congratulations, you have successfully slained 'Predator (-)' rank 'Sentry Knight']

Ajax and Stella didn't ponder for too long and started moving again. However, this time the 2 other knights were already aware of them. Ajax and Stella had no choice but to attack both.

Ajax covered his legs with his ability [Void armament] and dashed at great speed towards the first knight. The knight smashed his shield three times and charged as well. Ajax threw his axe in an arc, forcing the knight to come to an abrupt stop. Ajax took this chance and sprinted at the knight. He switched the coat to his arm, recalled his axe and delivered a series of attacks, forcing the knight to be on the defensive.

Ajax kept his cool and saw the incoming thrust attack of the knight. He weaved to the side, coated his legs and delivered a blow to its leg, forcing it to kneel. He then lodged his axe deep in the knight's head, smashing it.

[Congratulations you have successfully slained 

'Predator (-)' rank 'Sentry knight']

On Stella's side, she danced on the battlefield, dodging and countering the knights' attacks. The knight was in bad shape, with cuts and cracks on his armor. The knight bashed Stella, but she countered it with her halo shield, causing a massive shockwave. Stella guided her halo to her wrist again and delivered multiple heavy attacks to the knight. The knight blocked the majority of it with its shield and countered with multiple thrusts, forcing her to back up.

Stella and the knight watched each other carefully, measuring each other's movements. They charged again, exchanging blows. The knight did an upward slash, which Stella dodged, and she took this chance to throw her halo at the knight. The halo seemed to rotate, and it decapitated the knight in half. This was only possible because the knight's armor was already broken and the skill itself used a lot of astral energy.

Ajax got to Stella's position and saw that the battle was over. Exhausted, they both collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

"It seems thats all of them"

Stella took a second and said, "No, it's not all of them."

"What do you mean?" Ajax was confused as they only saw three sentry knights.

"The sentries seem to protect something. That's why they are patrolling this area. And whatever those three monsters are protecting seems ahead of us. "

"Could it be a treasure?"

"I'm not sure."

They stood up and braced themselves for what was ahead.