abcnovels
Chapter 118: The Effect of the Arrows
Chapter 118: The Effect of the Arrows
Stark's clone nodded as it saw the rift boss use all her powerful attacks, her bow and body surrounded by an electrifying blue aura, and also five crystal shards turning around her in rotation.
"DIE!" she pointed her bow at him, and a giant arrow, at least ten times the size of the others, began charging up inside as she pulled the string.
Stark wasn't dumb, and so instead of letting her charge an attack that could potentially kill him, he immediately dashed toward her.
"AURA SMASH," his clone also sent two fists at her to give Stark a chance to attack.
But…
Two of the crystal shards rotating around Sierra intercepted the fists, then immediately crumbled, meaning only three were left.
"CRIMSON SPEARS," but it wouldn't back off, so the clone also sent three spears again, in hopes of eliminating all the shards.
But…
~BAM~
Like a baseball bat, one of the shards conveniently placed itself horizontally in front of the spears, and as if it was controlled by an invisible creature, it swung to make all three spears disappear, in exchange the shard obviously disappeared.
[Crystal Burst] was an incredibly powerful attack, not only since it granted the user the ability to summon 5 shards that could pretty much block any attack, but also because when it is set on [Attack] mode, Sierra can send all the shards toward a target, and if they ever hit him (or an area close to him), then it would cause massive damage as they would explode.
~PUNCH~
Stark tried to take advantage of Sierra's attack charging up to punch her and cancel it, but yet another shard came to interrupt him, and it shattered as well as it blocked his strike.
Stark knew this would happen as he had seen his clone's attacks being blocked, but…
The thing he didn't expect though is for the shard to suddenly move while he was in midair, unable to dodge, and then…
~BAM, CRACK~
The shard slammed into Stark's chest, sending him flying backward and crashing into the ground.
"-7837!"
He felt a sharp pain as some crystal debris teared the fabric of his clothes and cause manor injuries.
Luckily, Stark had activated his [Domination] shield, which successfully blocked 5K points of damage, meaning that he had overall 'only' received 2837 points of damage.
[Stark HP: 8363/11200]
Thanks to his level increase, his HPs had already gone well over 10000.
After all, the more a classifier levels up, the higher the amount of HP they would get to accommodate for the bigger challenges they would face later.
Stark's clone helped him get up instantly, like the true companion it was, but… it was already too late.
"GOODBYE, HUMAN!" Sierra laughed maniacally as her giant arrow attack charged.
And suddenly…
[AVOID, AVOID, AVOID, AVOID]
The crimson messages appeared all over, but they quickly subdued as another one appeared, and it was extremely unusual.
[CANNOT AVOID, ELIMINATE BOSS QUICK!]
'Huh?'
Not understanding, Stark immediately used [Perception] on Sierra's status panel, and specifically on the [Arrow Ray] skill.
…
[Skill: Arrow Ray]
[Description:] A powerful ranged attack that needs 30 seconds to charge up, but if the user ever succeeds in doing that, then a giant crystal arrow will appear and transform into an unstoppable beam.
[Note:] This skill cannot be stopped unless it hits someone (it will still go if hitting an object), so it would be advised to watch out as the arrow beam works just as the normal ones.
…
And suddenly, as soon as he read that…
~FIOUUU, BOOOOOM!~
Sierra fired the giant arrow at Stark, which created a trail of white aura so overwhelming it could make many classifiers faint upon sensing it.
"DASH!" it was fast, but Stark immediately moved out of the way by flapping Judicator's wings.
But of course… it wasn't like the other arrows.
Since as soon as the arrow met the wall on the other end of the cave boss area, it didn't explode or disappear like the others, instead, it turned around and flew back toward Stark.
'It's going to follow me until it hits something…' Stark's eyes widened as he crouched to avoid the arrow again.
And in the meantime, Sierra didn't sit down and watch him struggle.
"ARROW BARRAGE," she began to create more arrows and launch them at Stark and his clone while they were busy avoiding the giant arrow.
'This can't keep going,' Stark mumbled as he kept moving in all directions, many arrows almost hitting him, 'But if the arrows need to hit something then…'
He looked at his clone, and suddenly, something came to mind.
Back at the Domination Trial, something like this happened before, where either he or Orasio needed to sacrifice themselves to pass to the final area, and at that the time…
He had used one of his clones so that they both pass.
So maybe… just maybe… his clone could be considered as a person?
And so… he took the risk.
"Hey," he shouted to his clone, and it immediately understood as it suddenly began to run in the opposite direction, toward Stark.
"FOOLISH, DIE, HUMAN!" Sierra didn't stop shooting her arrows, confident in her imminent victory now.
But right as the [Arrow Ray] was centimeters away from hitting the original Stark… the clone pushed him out of the way and took the hit.
"-837!" these [Arrows of Sierra] didn't do that much damage as their perk was already overpowered.
'Dumbass, he wasted a clone,' Sierra maniacally laughed, even stopping her onslaught of arrows to enjoy the show.
But what she didn't expect… was for Stark's clone to be so close to the original, and made from his aura, so it would be considered as if hitting someone.
And so the giant arrow exploded upon contact with the clone's body.
But before it disappeared… it received the effects of the [Arrow of Sierra] perk.
'Oh… I can see what it does now,' Stark smiled.
The white mist engulfed the clone, and its body suddenly began to turn completely white, crystal shards growing on its skin too, its aura also began to flow around the area, as if trying to escape and becoming aggressive.
'WHAT THE?' Stark was taken aback.
And so after a few seconds… the clone's body began to crystallize, the shards spreading and covering its entire form.
And the moment the crystals merged with its figure, the clone's eyes became completely black, and a pair of wings grew from its back.
It had become a [Servant of Sierra], and although Stark couldn't know about the pain, the aura of the clone moving so much during the transformation meant that it was extremely painful.
'I'm sorry,' he sighed, speaking to his clone before calling it back, resulting in its aura seeping back into his body, and for the white mist/crystals to drop to the ground as the bearer of the 'perk' had disappeared.
But… now Stark was mad, and the aura from the clone that merged with his increased his anger as it sought for revenge: it wanted Sierra dead, it wasn't even about the mission anymore.
"Nice try, but now I'm truly gonna end this," Stark dashed toward Sierra, taking her aback as she hadn't expected for the clone to be able to affected by her arrows.
"DOUBLE ASSAULT!" he shouted, activating his legendary skill.