But seeing this bold creature he wondered if that strength that he believed in had ever been truly tested In the beginning sure he had grown strong fast but at some point had his strength grow flabby and impure The monster in front of them was a pure expression of the System’s malice and Hank would receive it as such But it was also a tribulation one that would strength and refine him forcing out his potential
Even as he considered these options Hank’s heart began to pound
Do we run Ezekiel asked slowly
Hank smiled Let’s at least wait long enough to see if its friends surround us We need to be polite to the locals
Chapter 493
When it leaped the ground beneath it shuddered By some strange technological advancement Katie’s powersuit instantly expanded from her wrist to cover all of her and she moved rapidly to intercept using her powerful legs to launch herself with a similar level of force
Hank rolled to the side out of the line of fire drawing his left pistol the repeater In a second he fired all 12 Mana Reinforced bullets aiming to just test the defenses of the thing Simultaneously he could hear Ezekiel shooting out his Pierce spell
The projectiles hit the ram with small impacts thin spurts of blood shooting out each time But the wounds were shallow and as Hank watched they rapidly healed Laurel backed off from the group beginning to chat
The ram smashed into Katie and the powersuit was sent sprawling off to the side It landed and turned with angry eyes towards Hank who had hit its face with a bullet But before it could move Affina was there here thin bamboo pole crystallized into a slim jade sword Her strike streaked forward aiming to slide into the back of the ram’s neck
Its eyes flashed as it swung its head to the side with deceptive speed knocking the sword aside Then it leaped forward aiming to run her over Unfortunately for it it had drastically underestimated Affina as had Hank The girl stepped to the side and drew a long gash along its side as it sailed past the largest wound they had inflicted on it so far
It bellowed powerfully just in time for Hank to raise his repeater and shoot bullets into its open mouth When the bullets arrived it immediately began to gag stumbling backward and shaking its head Calmly Hank took a stepped forward reloading his repeater Then he took another step and replaced it at his side
Normal bullets wouldn’t do against this foe
Katie had recovered and spear tackled into the ram’s side sending it staggering even more Noticing it was off balance Katie began to rain blows down on its side Hank couldn’t tell if she was doing serious damage but it was definitely weakening it enough to give the rest of them a chance
Ezekiel continued to use pierce inflicting small wounds Affina had somehow disappeared from Hank’s awareness but he knew she would strike when she had an opening
Hank breathed in then breathed out Then he drew his pistol in a smooth motion aiming at the ram’s head But at the last second he hesitated because through the sole’s of his feet he could feel the ground rumbling beneath him Something was coming
Just as Hank opened his mouth to warn his companions it arrived a ram double the size of the one they had found its purple fur darkened to the deepest midnight It landed between Hank and the younger ram its burning red eyes regarding him hatefully Hank had half a mind to shrug They wouldn’t have fought with this critter if they could help it
It snorted and Hank’s eyes narrowed He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a blast of something There was a strange distortion in the air but no heat or wind
Sound waves Affina said materializing next to him If that hits at the very least it will rupture your eardrums for a few hours But I bet it also includes a debilitating headache
Hank raised his pistol and fired
Trick Shot
The bullet zipped forward moving much faster than it had a right to Even so the ram reacted blurring to the side and out of the way of the oncoming bullet
Hank smiled Not fast enough
The bullet struck one of its metallic golden horns and ricocheted off Hank’s smile faltered somewhat It had blocked that
A boom of a sounding bell echoed throughout the field much louder than Hank had expected causing him to wince It seemed that the horns were part of the fuel for its strange sonic attacks A thin crack appeared in the horn about 10 centimeters long
Instantly the whole demeanor of the ram changed When it had arrived it had been furious that these lesser beings had dared threaten its young Although it was also just Level 59 those two 59’s were separated by years of experience that gave it the tools to fight against them
Skill Levels ’ Hank thought to himself considering the opponent before him I should have spent so much more time training up my Skill Levels ’
Hadn’t he done that
It wasn’t enough the thought returned
The midnight ram snorted A wave of sonic energy spread out resonating with the golden horns It hit Hank and sent him sprawling backward with a grunt The attack was weaker than the directed snort and Hank could also sense that there was a flaw in the attack it seemed his strike on the golden horns had done more than he had expected
Hank quickly righted himself but just as quickly fell back over feeling warm blood flowing out of his ears There was a dull ringing there but nothing more In addition his balance was off in a very dangerous way But Hank gritted his teeth straightening through sheer force of will
If I don’t recover I’m going to die ’
His body straightened to find the midnight arrive careening towards him dashing up the field At the last second Hank rolled to the side leveling the revolver at the ram’s side But as it passed him it twisted performing a barrel roll Hank held his shot and took more careful aim in a different direction
Across the field Katie was in an armor that glowed with the strength of an external battery But in exchange it seemed she was quickly overpowering the younger ram with Ezekiel’s assistance It seemed that both of them were slightly disheveled but none the worse for ware
Hank breathed in breathed out and then fire
The younger ram’s head exploded in a spray of gore
Again Hank felt more than saw the older ram’s ire He twisted around just in time to get smashed with another wave of force Luckily this was the weakened universal direction force but this time he was much closer to the epicenter and the blow was so jarring that he blacked out briefly
When he came to he was still midair and his whole body was oddly numb floating on the force of the ram’s attack Very slowly his eyes opened and closed His head was pounding He couldn’t tell how long he had been in the air
Hank gritted his teeth forcing his eyes to focus The midnight ram was right in front of him rushing towards him with an open mouth Its teeth were yellow and wide the remains of some fleshy creature ground between them
I’m like a dentist buddy Hank found himself saying It’s gonna hurt but if we don’t do this now yur gonna get cavities
His hands moved more slowly than he remembered but Hank managed to get his revolver up and fire a bullet smashing through the ram’s lower jaw It screamed blood spraying onto the ground and Hank had time to notice that the small crack in its right horn had grown and was now almost spanning half of the horn Then he body hit the unforgiving ground and the wind was knocked out of him
Blinking he just managed to glimpse Katie ripping past him Laurel’s powerful spirit wings on her back Again she slammed against a ram and again she seemed to trip it up somewhat even if it didn’t inflict any lasting damage
Breathing out a long held breath Hank propped himself up He could feel a queer burning in his ears and raised his hands to rub them
Ezekiel was next to him and raised his hands and pointed towards the midnight ram his mouth open He was likely yelling but Hank couldn’t’ figure out what he was saying Ne never truly took the time to learn to read lips