They could do this
Then the Ghosthound exploded with force It was difficult to describe the phenomenon in any other way Huang LiÆs eyes couldnÆt follow the particulars The steam and mist and even Alana’s image were blasted away as he took such an abrupt and powerful step forward that it shattered the surrounding space His figure was suddenly revealed his skin releasing dense heat waves that made him difficult to view in an entirely different way
Most alarmingly those powerful spectral chains that Glendel had created were forcibly torn as he stepped forward And in the next moment Alana pulled her spear back and the Ghosthound stabbed forward to counter her When the two spears impacted each other Alana’s holy image stuck again at the weight that the Ghosthound released into the surrounding area And that holy wave of flames flared to even greater brightness as the two forces began to mix as though experiencing a surge of motivation to burn the power around the Ghosthound away and leave him defenseless
The Ghosthound twisted his spear and then spun bringing the butt of his weapon around to strike at Alana’s head She ducked and thrust at his midsection which he sidestepped with ease Then he planted his foot and accelerated at an impossible pace repaying Alana’s thrust with one in kind As he did so the Ghosthound sucked a deep breath The golden flames that were surging around him dimmed Even Huang Li perhaps twenty meters away from the Ghosthound swayed as that inhale pulled at something vital in his chest and stole a tiny pinch of it His image which had just been able to gain some momentum turned suddenly sluggish
Kayle had recovered his position and sprung forward as it became clear that Alana could only hastily move to deflect the Ghosthound’s thrust upward He cut decisively in a sharp vertical motion between the two combatants “Absolute Divide “
The Ghosthound’s spear sheered right through the barrier that Kayle conjured barely being slowed by a fraction of a second as it did so Which gave Alana a slight edge but even so the wicked and sharp weight that the Ghosthound wielded slashed through Alana’s golden flames and ivory feathers to cut a narrow gash in the shoulder of her leather armor
Hank Howard took his shot aiming for the moment where the Ghosthound’s spear scored a hit on Alana’s armor That small encumbrance was what he had been waiting for As the bullet rushed forward more and more scraps of the shattered images that had already been thrown against the Ghosthound were gathered together They flocked together like a school of multicolored fish each bearing a small amount of power Yet when enough of those scraps were gathered that bullet became a kaleidoscopic streak through the air Just as the Ghosthound pulled back on his spear Alana released her own and seized his shaft “Not so fast “
Without any apparent effort the Ghosthound flicked his wrist and flung Alana to the side Alana blinked in shock
Then he turned toward the attack and the head of his spear flashed in the light as he cut toward the bullet With the Perception given to Huang Li by the steady breeze that churned through the arena he could sense how perfectly the Ghosthound lined up his attack
which was why the sudden second shot from Hank’s revolver threw him off so much The bullet shrieked across the intervening space nicking the edge of the powerful bullet and redirecting it down and to the left The second bullet was so impossibly fast that it impacted the far wall before Hank’s powerful bullet impacted the Ghosthound but that quick bullet bounced off the wall without damaging it its power was practically negligible Yet for the first time the Ghosthound was struck with a serious blow That amalgamation of the previous images used against him blasted away the strange aura around the Ghosthound and sent him skidding backward across the ground for several meters
His toes left deep troughs in the dirt ground Finally he eased to a stop and immediately reached up toward the wound
Drops of blood fell from the Ghosthound right shoulder where the bullet still flared with furious life and continued to drain the oppressive deadliness the Ghosthound released into the area With their foe clearly shaken and focusing on the last attack Giuliana stepped forward and snapped her whip forward at the Ghosthound’s back
But as soon as she did so Alana’s eyes widened “Let go of “
Yet her warning came too late Even without the Ghosthound moving his previously rigid spear twisted sideways The head of the spear spread apart like a monster’s jaws and snatched Giuliana’s whip out of the air With a small yank the Ghosthound sent Giuliana sprawling Such was his overwhelming Strength that she was pulled eight of the ten meters toward the Ghosthound before she could stop herself Paolo and Kayle rushed forward to strike at the Ghosthound but he slipped between their strikes That same almost unrecognizable speed was suddenly applied to dodging Then His left arm transformed into that massive claw and he seized Giuliana by the head
For a split second Huang Li felt a chill Randidly Ghosthound was going to crush her skull right in front of them He would kill them to make an example of them
Luckily that did not happen While everyone else waited to see what the Ghosthound was doing the man in question grinned and tossed the suddenly limp Giuliana out of the encirclement Huang Shou moved to catch the woman and gently laid her down on the ground Then he looked up and gave the Ghosthound an inscrutable look “She’s just unconscious “
“That’s the punishment for springing this on me ” the Ghosthound announced as he spun to look at them all “But it will help me finish something that I’ve been working on for a while When I catch you I’ll be taking a bit of your mental energy You’ll recover but it will put you out of commission for a few days Still want to continue “
He hasn’t even used his image yet not really Huang Li thought But as he did so Alana Donal spoke and reframed the issue “The Ghosthound is so exhausted that he cannot even muster his images in his defense HeÆs bleeding This is our chance “
Tykes roared and heaved his massive iron ball toward the Ghosthound’s back
Randidly had used the opportunity where he had contact with Giuliana’s skull to absorb a portion of her memories into the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night As soon as she had been caught there was a sudden surrender to her will to fight that was enough of a permission for the Dreamcatcher He didn’t know much about her but she did possess enough power to make it to the top 8 duos on Earth They might have made it even farther too if they hadn’t run into Alana and Wivanya who would go on to be the champions
So he figured he would try it And the experiment turned out to be a success he earned another Level for his Fatepiece through it
On the flip side his ‘ambushers’ appeared somehow incensed by the fact that he knocked her out so quickly Which Randidly thought seemed somewhat unfair considering that the punishment was a relatively light one considering the zeal with which they were launching full strength attacks at him
Still Randidly couldn’t help but smile this was an entirely different sort of challenge than the fights against Kaan Swacc And Alana was right After his extended training sessions this week he really was near the end of his endurance Even if the physical manifestations of the Grim Chimera could occasionally be summoned for heavier effectiveness he was largely just fighting against these people relying on his physical capabilities
Which meant that the would from HankÆs bullet was a genuinely troublesome one considering it continued to burn at the surrounding flesh of his shoulder Once more he ruthlessly prevented Yggdrasil and the Stillborn Phoenix from participating in this duel this fight was the Grim Chimera’s
Yet RandidlyÆs only response when Tykes picked up his gratuitously large iron ball and toss it over at his back was joy Once more his left arm spasmed painfully and transformed into the taloned claw of the Grim Chimera But this time when he should have deftly snatched the ball out of the air Randidly grasped nothing the ball in front of him shattered into pieces of glass and Donny was there with his shield raised