But even so he suppressed them with just his monstrous physical stats and high Level Skills His image was almost an afterthought It was humiliating It was invigorating
no one has anything to say The Ghosthound spoke into the tense silence He pursed his lips You just want to attack me randomly with no explanation
Again no one responded Lucifer was practically grinding his teeth It was hubris the Ghosthound now spoke with the arrogance of one who had never looked at the back of another and wished for the power to bridge the gap between them Or if he had experiences like that he had now forgotten them
When Alana had suggested the attack it had come as a shock to Lucifer But he believed that all of the participants in the duos tournament or at least those at the top wondered the same thing when they pushed themselves to their limits to seize victory and name the world How far were they from the best Expira had to offer
How far were they from the power wielded by the Nexus
Now they faced a truth combined they measured up to less than one third of the GhosthoundÆs power They couldnÆt even defeat a single exhausted one of his images And perhaps it was truly closer to one third or one half of his abilities because he still had the benefits of his powerful Stats no matter the image But it was an unsatisfying realization
We can do better than this Lucifer hissed to himself
There was a sharp crack from AlanaÆs crumpled form and a hiss of pain Then the woman stood up and brushed herself off She glanced down at her broken spear tossed it to the side and produced another from her interspatial ring She gripped the shaft with both hands and lowered herself into an offensive stance Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth but orange gold fire slowly sprang to light along her spear There wasnÆt a single ounce of surrender in her figure even though she was the only one who had endured a blow from the full power of his image
Lucifer tilted his saber so he held it horizontally across his body Your inner light and heat were bright when I first wounded you Ghosthound but now they grow dim You are weakening even as we are Yet you dare ask us why
Fine then the Grim Chimera said He was all bone tendons and inner fire as he rolled his shoulders and then accelerated toward Dinesh Alana once more launched herself forward the first to put her body in the GhosthoundÆs path Lucifer leaned forward and exploded toward the GhosthoundÆs exposed back
Unfortunately that new right arm of the GhosthoundÆs was just too fast The hand shot out and seized the tip of the spear the slender fingers belying its immense strength Again with the slightest twitch Randidly tossed Alana to the side Lucifer’s fury mixed freely with his image surging along the length of his saber Yet his speed wasnÆt enough As he pursued him from behind the Ghosthound opened up space between them without any apparent effort As long as he had that speed his back was never truly exposed
Then Donny was there again grinning from ear to ear There was a joy to exhausting this powerful warrior Invincible Aegis
A dozen immense golden shields sprung up between Donny and the Ghosthound Each was about two meters tall and was covered in a shimmering array of pictograms depicting their fight against the Ghosthound thus far It told a gallant story that ended in the defeat of the monster by the band of heroes
Invincible The GhosthoundÆs voice sounded amused Man is Proud But the Chimera Takes
The ground beneath his feet cracked and in the same instant the noise of him impacting the largest central Aegis reached LuciferÆs ears There was no instant of time that could fit between those two occurrences Donny was blasted backward his Skill flashing with golden light as all the shields were forced backward before the power of the Ghosthound In fact he continued sliding backward until he settled only a meter in front of Dinesh who stood in rapt concentration with closed eyes The central shield cracked
I need ten more seconds Dinesh sent out a message to the group Even though Lucifer was already rushed forward at the GhosthoundÆs back he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach Ten seconds was a long time
Kayle seemed to materialize next to the Ghosthound who was raising his spear for another strike at DonnyÆs weakened Skill and crossed his long knives Slice and Dice
Even with his imposing image of a cruelly sharp divide adding an edge to his strikes each quick slash of his knives only inflicted shallow divots in the Grim ChimeraÆs impossible sturdy skin The strikes did have enough of an image to draw a reflexive rise in the Grim ChimeraÆs power but it was practically a negligible thing
But it did stall the Ghosthound out briefly Huang Shou thrust his palm forward Shatter
or perhaps it didnÆt slow him down at all The Ghosthound moved so quickly he vanished avoiding the strike entirely and appearing behind Huang Shou Before the aging man could even respond his head was grabbed and he was tossed to the side
Paolo had somehow predicted the abrupt change in direction and was close enough to launch a sharp elbow strike at the GhosthoundÆs temple But the GhosthoundÆs massive left hand tightened into a fist flicking sideways and shattering PaoloÆs elbow with an audible crack Just as his slender right hand thrust forward to seize PaoloÆs face Alana shot forward with thin white flames running along her spear
Her eyes glowed She let her breath slide out between her lips The Fifth Revelation Want
Those flames running along her spear immediately brightened Their white tips seemed to shimmer
For an extended second the Ghosthound seemed struck with indecision as Alana shot at his back and PaoloÆs indomitable image blazed even brighter despite his shattered joint Yet then the Ghosthound twisted so quickly that Lucifer couldnÆt follow the movement His slid outward fingers pressed together in a deadly point toward AlanaÆs chest
Alana seemed to predict this releasing her spear and stepping to the side Then her hand now bearing those white flames cut downward and severed the GhosthoundÆs tail His right hand veered sideways and ripped into AlanaÆs shoulder
Haymaker Paolo bellowed as he threw his punch His blazing image spun itself into threads and rushed to his knuckles The Ghosthound brought his left hand across his body in a backhand and effortlessly knocked the punch away The image of indomitable triumph was shattered Then he seized PaoloÆs face with his immense talons
Lucifer caught up his saber raised He hated that this was all he had the move he practiced day after day seeking to catch up to the distant form of the Ghosthound But this was what he had poured his last several years into It bore the weight of all his sweat and blood It had to be enough Lucifer Slash
His emotions and memories seemed to burn through his fingers and into the blade as he pulled it sharply downward and aimed at the sundered flesh on the GhosthoundÆs chest He felt instantly that this was the sharpest slash he had even unleashed Yet he couldnÆt help but also notice how quickly the Ghosthound responded
The GhosthoundÆs fingers in AlanaÆs shoulder sprang open widening the wound and then he threw her to the side At the same time Ghosthound released Paolo Both hands rushed toward Lucifer at a speed that was at least double his slash
PaoloÆs left hand seized the GhosthoundÆs wrist that had just released him His eyes were blazing and his image exploded outward over the surrounding area pressuring even Lucifer DonÆt you dare think IÆd go down so easily Right Hand of the Challenger
Paolo planted his left foot and smashed his right fist against the stunned GhosthoundÆs jaw Lucifer slashed downward and cut open another deep gash across the GhosthoundÆs midsection