Chapter 83: Elite Knights

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I moved to the second room after receiving that notification, and to hurry things up, I utilized the knowledge I learned from the previous battle much better now. Alongside combining my Mana Sense with the Mirror of Gabriella to see the statues' reflections as they came rushing towards me, I was able to dispose of most of them easily through Gram and my Dragon Tooth Knife's combined strength.

The second room was mostly the same as the first one, but three times as large, and it had smaller, mini rooms I had to venture into while fighting the other statues to save time. Each mini room wasn't all that hard, although I still took some damage here and there. With the help of my [Bastion's Shield] to defend from most damage, I was able to proceed smoothly.

That was until the last area of the second room. Having spent only about ten minutes here, I thought that was it. I was wrong.

As I walked into their territory, they instantly noticed me. These weeping angel statues weren't like the rest. Instead of holding shields, swords, or spears made of stone, they held staffs and wands.

And the moment they saw me giving them their backs, a rain of hundreds of fireballs, beams of holy light, and arrows made of wind reached me.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

I quickly hid behind one of the pillars, glancing back at the angels as they instantly took their former appearances as if nothing had happened.

"Are you kidding me? They can use magic too!" I was honestly a bit surprised. "I didn't expect that."

["With such instant-cast magic, it won't be easy to reach them. Even if you stay at their side and quickly give them your back to take them down, their magic conjuration will be faster, and you'll likely take a huge hit, or more, all concentrated at once…"]

Gram was right; using the same strategy I used before wouldn't apply to these guys. Especially because they don't move nor chase me down; they stay where they are and fire magic.

So I only have a very short time frame to attack them while they fire magic at me. But most likely, I'll get blasted with magic attacks before I can even hurt them.

Should I just charge with my bastion shield? But will it hold off enough? It currently has around three thousand Durability…

["How about you bait them?"]

"Bait them?"

["You seem amazingly proficient at light magic, yet I only see you use its most basic capabilities. Have you ever considered creating reflections of yourself through your light magic?"]

"That's… I can't believe I never thought about it. Mostly because nobody would fall for such a thing, right?"

["Well, you can't say these statues have any hint of the intelligence these angels once held. They're very robotic in nature…"]

"I know what you're trying to tell me... If I make illusions of myself and create reflections that spread everywhere, These will bait them, and they'll end up attacking each other in different positions."

["Exactly. If you can reduce the amount of magic fired at you at the same time, then you can take them down easily as you won't be overwhelmed while doing so…"]

"Okay, let's try."

I concentrated my mind on it. The power of how Innate Skills worked varied depending on mental image plus mana. If I mixed this with Ki as well, and the image of my own physique.

While also thinking about the reflection of people through light, suddenly, four clones of myself, or well, reflections, emerged out of my own Light Aura.

"Oh, this was much easier than I imagined…"

["T-That shouldn't be really possible…"]

"It might be the Great Sorceress Skill, it is an S Rank Skill after all, and it's level 4," I explained. "It is an amazing skill that simply allows a magician to shape and change their magic to their liking, much like Baihe does it with her Ice Magic."

["And you just stole her ability?!"]

"I just copied it; it comes with having these eyes." I giggled.

I quickly faced the statues again. They were a row of ten, all of them magicians. I slowly walked in front of them and then stopped right in front of their gazes.

"{Body Reflections}"

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

Five slightly transparent reflections of my own appearance appeared, lining my body. And then, I quickly ordered them to walk in front and for them to give the statues their backs.

Before I could realize it, fireballs, wind arrows, and beams of light reached them in an instant!

It worked! But they're super-fast at it!

I quickly ran towards the nearest statue while it was firing fireballs at my reflections, who were running in circles and trying to evade the hits.

"{Sunshine Blade}!"

SLASH!

A quick swing of Gram imbued with the Sunshine Blade Skill was enough for the entire statue to be cut in two halves, falling apart.

"One down, nine more to go!"

With haste, I quickly started taking them down one after another while carrying my bastion shield on my back and summoning more reflections, which disappeared after a single hit.

Their magic attacks sometimes hit my back, but the bastion shield took the most hits, slowly beginning to have its durability chipped down more and more.

"Take this!"

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

With three slashes at once, the last two statues were incapable of evading due to their way of working and were instantly cut down to pieces, crumbling down with shock in their stone faces.

"W-We did it!" I sighed in relief, exhausted.

This was a really exhausting thing to do! I had to multitask into evading, running, attacking, summoning reflections, and ordering them to move all at once.

["Not bad for a mere mortal!"] Laughed Gram.

"Phew… Ugh, I don't have time to rest." I quickly stored all of their hearts and then drank a Stamina Potion I had prepared beforehand.

I have already drunk over half of the twelve I've prepared. I needed to save some, but if I rested instead of recovering my stamina with potions, I'd lose precious time.

"Let's keep this pace."

I opened the third room's gate, and I was greeted with an even wider room, at least twice as big as the second. And this is the very last before the boss room, most likely.

"Ugh, alright, perseverance is key."

The first half of the third room was harsh, but it was still within my capabilities. Now there were "heavy armored" warrior statues that took more than one hit even while attacking but were still manageable.

Alongside them, every warrior and two mages accompanied them, and they were always in groups of six on each corner and three in the mini rooms.

It was harsh, and my bastion shield's durability was now at one thousand, but it worked, and we were now in the other half of this room.

And this is where things became complicated again.

"You have to be kidding me; what are these guys?"

The statues standing in my way were only five now; these were the very last of the third room's second half… However, they weren't like anything before.

Huge, tall, and muscular. Each one was unique in appearance, resembling Titans more than angels. They were at least six meters tall each, with two pairs of wings holding huge tridents and enormous staffs, and one even had a huge axe.

"An Ax Wielder, a Heavy Sword Wielder, a Staff Wielder, a Spear Wielder, and a Mace Wielder…"

["They look strong…"]

"Let's see how strong. {Eye of Truth}"

[You have utilized {Eye of Truth}, you have deciphered what these monsters are!]

[Petrified Angel Elite Knights (A+ Rank)]: [The strongest five Angel Knights that served the Celestial King Solomon. Powerful and mighty, all five of them wield different weapons and complement each other's fighting capabilities extremely well. Unlike the other angels, who were cursed unwillingly, these five knights chose to be petrified so they could guard King Solomon's Throne Room for Eternity.]

"They're A+ Rank and are… extremely powerful, according to the description."

["We can't have this the easy way, huh? I wonder how strong Solomon is, if these are already A+ Rank…"]

"I don't want to think about it too much, but probably a lot…"

I glanced at the huge angel in front of me, whose bare-chested muscles shone brightly even as stone. His huge hands were wielding a gigantic blade. His face was hidden beneath a golden helmet; it seemed to not have been petrified.

I wonder if it's an item… The other angels also have some gold accessories that haven't been petrified. Maybe beating them could be related to these items?

Giving a quick glance, I cannot steal these items right away; they're "soul bound" in a way. If I want them, they have to be slain first.

Alright, fuck it.

I buffed myself as much as possible, but without using my small amount of Cosmic Energy left or using Anubis judgment either, those will be for Solomon. I can't use all my ammunition on his knights.

"{Body Reflections}!"

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

Over ten body reflections surged around me, shining brightly and semi-transparently. And then, I ordered them all to give the angels their backs while I readied myself.

CRASH!

Before I could even realize what was happening, a huge sword, an axe, and a spear pierced the floor a dozen times, enormous holes appeared over the floor, and three illusion reflections disappeared in a single second.

BOOOM!

A huge storm of fire reached my back, throwing me away in a single second. If it wasn't for the shield strapped to my back, I would have most likely taken much more damage.

["Those bastards are tremendously fast!"]

"I can tell!" I sighed. "Fine, let's use this."

I quickly channeled a tiny speck of cosmic energy as I imbued it into the rest of my body. My senses heightened greatly, my physique suddenly felt like it was growing much stronger, and my aura gained starlight-like sparkles.

[Because you have used a small quantity of Cosmic Energy, the [Cosmic Transcendent: Lv1 (SSS)] Skill special effect has been activated!]

[Increases All Stats by +50%, Decreases Damage Taken by -25%, and Increases Skill and Magic Damage by +50% when using Cosmic Energy.]

[The Effects of the [Sylph's Tear] Ring: [Wind Spirit's Blessing] has been activated! Your DEX and AGI have increased by +100% for 5 Minutes.]

[The Effects of the [Warrior's Necklace]: [Warrior's Stigma] has been activated! Your HP, STR, and VIT Stats have increased by +30% for 10 Minutes.]

I need more, more power!

"GRAM!"

["FINE!"]

[The [Divine Dragon Slaying Heroic Sword: Gram]'s Divine Radiance is resonating with your compatible Physique!]

[Your Physique is constantly growing stronger; your stats are slowly beginning to increase!]

[Your Mana and Ki are being refined; their recovery speed has increased!]

My aura merged with that of Gram, and as we both resonated almost perfectly, coupled with all the other buffs stacked together, I leaped in midair and reached the closest statue that was crushing a reflection—that damned sword-wielding bastard!

"{Sunshine Blade}!"

FLAAASH!

Gram overflowed with mighty Mana and Ki, generating an aura in the shape of its own body that grew several times larger. With all my might, I attacked the sword-wielding angel statue, only for the bastard to intercept my attack with his own blade while not even looking at me.

"This is no place for children to play around." It spoke. "BEGONE!"

A gigantic fist reached my body, punching my stomach and sending me flying away.

"Ungh…! Argh…!"

While feeling nauseous, I gritted my teeth, glanced at him through the powers of my Cosmic Energy and Eyes of Truth, and launched my two knives, the Dragon Tooth knife and the Frost Wolf Fang knife, directly into his shoulders! Overloaded with my own Mana, they suddenly erupted with flames and frost, blowing the statue's shoulders and, therefore, collapsing its two arms.

BOOOM!

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