NOVEL NEXT Chapter 100: Royal Rank Secret Art [3]
Launch!
The first blood spear shot forward like a crimson missile, aimed directly at the lead statue's chest. The weapon carried the concentrated power of Elite-rank blood, giving it devastating penetration capabilities.
CRACK!
It struck the stone warrior with tremendous force, creating spider web fractures across its torso but not quite penetrating completely through the magical stone construction.
Launch! Launch!
Two more spears followed in rapid succession, targeting the same opponent to maximize damage concentration rather than spreading my attacks across multiple enemies.
CRASH! CRUMBLE!
The combined impacts finally shattered the first statue's torso, causing it to collapse in a pile of rubble and dissipating magical energy.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The remaining seven statues responded by increasing their advance speed, their stone weapons raised and ready to strike. They had learned from their companion's destruction and were now approaching with more caution and coordination.
Whoosh!
I launched my final floating spear at a statue wielding a massive stone axe, aiming for its weapon arm to disable its primary threat.
Chip! Crack!
The spear struck true but only managed to damage the arm rather than severing it completely. These guardians were remarkably durable, clearly designed to withstand significant punishment.
Shing!
Drawing my physical sword while simultaneously beginning to form new blood weapons from the remaining scattered crimson liquid, I prepared for close-quarters combat.
Reform... solidify...
More blood spears began taking shape, but the process required time and concentration that grew more difficult as the stone warriors closed the final distance.
CLASH!
The first statue reached me, its stone sword sweeping in a devastating horizontal arc that I managed to parry with my own blade.
Sparks!
Three more statues doubled down on the attack, forcing my to block once again.
Under their combined attack, the impact sent vibrations up my arms, but my strength allowed me to maintain my grip and footing.
Stab! Thrust!
Two more statues attacked from different angles, their assault testing the limits of my body.
My Stone Armor absorbed the impacts that I couldn't completely avoid, the magical protection proving its worth as stone weapons struck hardened surfaces rather than vulnerable flesh.
This was only the beginning of what promised to be an exhausting battle of attrition. I needed to find a way to eliminate these guardians while conserving enough energy to claim the Royal-rank secret art that awaited me.
Deep breath...
CLASH! CLANG! SCRAPE!
I found myself in the thick of brutal combat, my reflexes keeping pace with the assault from seven remaining stone guardians. My blood spears continued to harass them from multiple angles while I engaged in close-quarters combat with my sword.
Whoosh! Crack!
One of my reformed blood spears struck the damaged statue I had hit earlier, widening the fractures across its torso and weakening its overall structure. This was my primary target, finishing off wounded enemies was always more efficient than starting fresh fights.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! THUD!
Four of the statues suddenly coordinated a devastating combined attack, their weapons coming at me from different directions in a pattern designed to overwhelm any possible defence. Stone sword, axe, mace, and spear all converged on my position simultaneously.
There was no way to parry or dodge all four attacks conventionally.
Deep breath...
'Null Strike!' I thought to myself, activating the first stance of the Overlord-rank secret art at the moment of impact.
WOOOOM!
The invisible sphere of negation erupted around me, creating that familiar distortion. The devastating combined attack simply ceased to exist the moment it entered the technique's radius.
Silence...
The four attacking statues stumbled forward, their momentum carrying them past me as their attacks were completely nullified. The confusion in their glowing red eyes was almost comical, their basic magical programming couldn't comprehend what had just occurred.
Without wasting the opportunity, I charged directly toward the damaged statue from my earlier blood spear assault. Its torso was already heavily fractured, making it the perfect target for destruction.
Slash! CRACK!
My first strike targeted its legs just above the knee joints, my strength and rare-rank sword finding the structural weak points in the stone construction.
CRUMBLE! CRASH!
Both legs shattered simultaneously, causing the massive stone warrior to topple forward like a felled tree. Its upper body hit the shrine floor with tremendous force, sending stone fragments scattering in all directions.
Thud!
I leaped onto the fallen statue's back, positioning myself over its head as it tried to continue fighting even while immobilized.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Multiple rapid strikes targeted the head and neck area, each blow creating deeper fractures in the stone structure. My speed allowed me to deliver devastating attacks faster than the guardian could react.
CRACK! CRUMBLE!
Finally, the head separated completely from the torso, rolling away as the red light in its eyes began to fade.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
But I wasn't finished yet. I continued attacking the remaining torso, breaking apart the stone construction while searching for something specific.
Chip! Crack! Break!
After several more strikes, I finally found what I was looking for, a brilliant crystal embedded deep within the statue's chest cavity. The gemstone pulsed with the same red energy that had been animating the guardian, clearly serving as its magical power source.
The crystal was beautiful and obviously valuable, radiating concentrated magical energy that would be incredibly useful for my blacksmithing projects. Rather than destroying such precious material, I carefully extracted it from the crumbling stone.
Clink!
I stored the power crystal in my storage ring, adding it to my growing collection of crafting materials. This single component was worth more than 100,000 points.
Crumble... crumble... collapse...
With its power source removed, the statue finally crumbled completely into nothing more than a pile of ordinary stone debris. The magical animation was gone, leaving only rubble behind.
STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!
The remaining six statues had recovered from their confusion and were advancing again, having witnessed the destruction of their companion.
Whoosh...
I reformed more blood spears from the scattered crimson liquid, preparing for the next phase of this challenging battle.
One down, six to go.