Chapter 92: Three vs. Three

Chapter 92: Three vs. Three

"Damn it!"

Stone swung his sword, slicing down a screeching little demon lunging at him. He turned, anxiously watching the altar not far below. Seeing the six-armed serpent demon's silhouette, his face darkened. He wasn't sure what was happening there, but things definitely didn't look good.

It seemed that the six-armed serpent demon lord had been resurrected!

If he could, Stone would have rushed down to fight. As a paladin, he had faced six-armed serpent demons several times. They were ruthless, cunning, and insidious creatures that ordinary paladins couldn't handle. Even when led by a grand paladin, the battles often ended in heavy casualties. Not only that, but their combat prowess was formidable. Although they mostly served as strategists or commanders, that didn't mean they were weak fighters. With their six arms, they could overwhelm any single opponent, attacking as if three people were fighting simultaneously. A single mistake could lead to being torn to shreds by their blades.

But Alex… how long could he hold out alone?

Thinking this, Stone glanced around. He tightened his grip on the reins and urged his pegasus forward. The creature neighed loudly and flew toward the altar.

"Eeeek—!"

However, as soon as Stone moved, the little demons ahead shrieked, opening their mouths. Fireballs shot from their mouths, hurtling toward Stone.

"Get out of my way!"

Facing the incoming fireballs, Stone roared, swinging his longsword. A whirling wind gusted outward, swallowing the fireballs. But the little demons had no intention of letting him pass. While Stone was swinging his sword, three demons charged at him from the front and sides. Before they could get close, his greatsword drew a wide arc in the air, slicing the three demons into halves.

But in those few seconds, dozens more demons rushed in from all directions, blocking Stone's path once again.

"Damn it!"

Gritting his teeth, Stone quickly tugged on the reins, urging his pegasus into a high leap to evade the demons' ambush. He was forced to retreat back into the formation of the Pegasus Knights.

"If only we were on the ground..."

He glanced at the surrounding demons, momentarily out of options. On the ground, relying on solid footing, he might have been able to wipe out the little demons. But the sky was a completely different battlefield. While the Pegasus Knights were skilled in aerial combat, the demons were just as proficient. In fact, if not for Stone, the Pegasus Knight Order might have already been defeated.

"What is that old man doing?!"

Stone glanced again at the battlefield below, grumbling as he turned his gaze toward the vague figure on the altar.

Kid, you better hold on!

"Slash!"

Blades flashed through the air, six silver arcs spreading out like blooming flowers before closing in to tear their target apart. However, just before they could, Alex rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. The scimitars didn't retreat after missing; instead, they slithered forward like venomous snakes, pursuing Alex relentlessly.

In response to the pursuing blades, Alex swung his sword, and a golden shield manifested before him, blocking the six-armed serpent demon's attack.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

All six scimitars struck the shield almost simultaneously. The shield shuddered under the onslaught, its light flickering before it finally shattered. At that moment, a serpentine tail whipped toward Alex like a long whip. Without hesitation, he leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the strike.

Just then, Alex raised his hand, aiming directly at the six-armed serpent demon lord. Seeing his action, the demon lord's expression changed. She quickly withdrew her six arms, crossing them defensively in front of her.

At that moment, the dark energy burst forth.

"Boom!"

The surge of energy hit the six-armed serpent demon like a heavy hammer. Using the recoil, Alex flipped in mid-air and landed on the ground. He swung his sword again.

But this time, the sword wasn't enveloped in the radiant holy light from before. Instead, it emitted a dim, misty aura. Seeing this, the six-armed serpent demon lord's face changed drastically. She shot backward like lightning, her six scimitars flashing up again, forcing Alex to retreat.

"Tch…"

Watching the whirlwind of flashing blades, Alex quickly withdrew his sword and stepped back. As he stood up again, the sacred light reappeared, enveloping his body.

What is with this mortal?

Bella stared at Alex, her eyes filled with confusion and doubt. At first, she had been furious. In the eyes of the six-armed serpent demon lord, even if her power had been weakened for some reason, dealing with a mere human should have been effortless. The greatest strength of the six-armed serpent demon was her ability to split her attacks into three, meaning that when fighting her, it felt as though one were being attacked by three demons of equal strength. Against such unpredictable assaults, few could withstand her onslaught.

But what baffled Bella was that there was clearly only one person in front of her, yet it felt as though she were fighting against three opponents. And not all at once, like the six-armed serpent demon's style, but rather like a series of alternating attacks!

This left Bella utterly perplexed. As an abyssal creature, she was highly sensitive to auras. She could tell that the young man's aura was incredibly strange. Sometimes, he radiated a holy energy that she found repulsive and all too familiar. Other times, his presence exuded a terrifying, primal force akin to a gathering of countless beasts. Most shockingly, she even sensed a pure deathly aura emanating from him!

Isn't he supposed to be a paladin?

Naturally, Bella had no way of knowing that she was, in fact, fighting against three different individuals.

This was the strategy Alex devised to confront the six-armed serpent demon before him.

Truth be told, Bella's initial attacks left Alex flustered. Even though he had trained in "Dark Souls" to the point where he could "dance" with the Nameless King with his eyes closed, facing the six-armed serpent demon's seemingly unfair combat ability was overwhelming. In the world of "Dark Souls," Alex had always tried his best to avoid situations where he could be surrounded. After all, once that happened... well, there wouldn't be much left to say.

However, he soon came up with a solution to this problem.

It was to use his Soul Stones!

Currently, Alex's battle plan followed a simple process: for defense, he used [Arthas]; for long-range attacks, he switched to [Kerrigan]; and whenever he found an opening in close combat, he'd switch to [Malthael] for a strike.

Alex discovered that while each skill had a cooldown, swapping Soul Stones didn't have any restrictions. This meant that, if he was willing, he could rapidly swap between different Soul Stones to unleash a variety of abilities.

This tactic was the main reason he could barely withstand Bella's attacks. Of course, the real MVP here was the [Malthael] Soul Stone he had drawn.

[Soul Stone: Malthael]

[Quality: Gold]

[Activation Count: 5]

[Grants Bonuses: Edge of Life and Death (a chance to negate external attacks), Reaper's Scythe (a chance to deliver a deadly strike to the enemy)]

Among the three Soul Stones in Alex's possession, [Malthael] was the most unique. [Arthas] was his go-to for frequent use, especially because the "Royal Cross Swordsmanship" made it his most utilized stone.

[Kerrigan] could unleash its full power only in its active state. [Malthael], on the other hand, was different. Through experimentation, Alex discovered that this Death Angel's Soul Stone reached its peak power only when activated!

[Malthael] also granted two bonuses, but they were more flashy than practical. [Edge of Life and Death] was unpredictable since it relied on probability, and there was nothing Alex could do about that. As he only had the most basic version of the Soul Stone, it lacked the broken mechanics of the original.

As for [Reaper's Scythe], it was a double-edged sword. A lethal strike sounded great, but its random activation made it uncontrollable. In other words, whenever Alex equipped [Malthael], he had to consider his environment. If facing a large group of enemies, it was manageable. But if he were sparring or fighting one-on-one, it was safer to keep that Soul Stone tucked away. Otherwise, an unlucky trigger of the deadly strike could create a huge mess.

Right now, however, Alex didn't need to worry about that.

Instead, it was Bella who found herself dragged into a dilemma by Alex's strategy!

(End of Chapter)

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