NOVEL NEXT Chapter 441: Five Dashes to Clash?
The Jungle Lord was a fearsome opponent.
It had speed unlike anything Lillian had ever faced, even surpassing a certain black-haired Assassin when it came to it.
Not only was it born with a substantial amount of mana, but it also had a superior physical body compared to the rest of the monsters inside its territory.
However, that wasn't all, for its intelligence even rivalled that of humans, something that was commonly only found in monsters who had reached the Prime rank—that was how gifted the Jungle Lord was.
It was even more fitting when the Wendigo had managed to grasp control over a part of nature, while only being in the Dire rank.
As Lillian continued to be stuck inside the Jungle Lord's endless chain of attacks that sent her flying around the arena, she remembered one last thing about it.
'It also has a second phase...'
Each Lord of their territory was a boss in their own right. Although different in shape, abilities, and sizes, they were ultimately similar in strengths.
BAM!
The Jungle Lord struck the side of Lillian's sphere and felt a slight shock sting its hand.
This was because the electricity wrapped around Lillian's figure due to her shortsword having managed to make its way throughout Lillian's solid bubble.
As the Jungle Lord continued to strike Lillian's bubble, it also noticed a subtle feeling of drainage.
Why was its mana being consumed more than it had calculated?
The glowing orbs in its hollow eyes shone slightly as it continued to strike Lillian's sphere, trying to get to the bottom of this mystery.
Lillian could sense its confusion and grinned as her Parasitic element was taking a noticeable effect.
From the moment she had been stuck inside her solid water sphere, she had been using an exorbitant amount of mana—not to just keep her sphere intact, which was also a factor, but...
"It's time..."
But because high above the arena, she had been conjuring a large body of water with the help of her [Parallel Thinking].
The reason why?
Well...
It was all so she could activate a singular enchantment on her boots, which required her to be in the presence of a large body of water.
BAM!
The Jungle Lord crashed its fist against the side of Lillian's sphere like a wooden log before blurring and appearing shortly after to intercept her flight.
And as it drew back its arm and slammed it against Lillian's sphere again, it had the ball to shoot backwards like it had done previously.
However—
SPLASH!
—The sphere exploded outwards and rushed towards him in tidal waves.
They then rapidly transformed into a variety of spears, mimicking how the Jungle Lord had previously summoned a wall of vines to skewer Lillian.
The Wendigo's eyes flashed with a curious light as it cocked back both of its arms and began to unleash a flurry of blows.
Its fists were like solid metal shattering through sharp, fragile glass.
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
In only a few dozen milliseconds, it had already destroyed Lillian's water constructs.
The Jungle Lord then adjusted its stance, watching as behind the water was Lillian's speeding figure—her attack clearly inspired by its earlier one.
Seeing this, the Jungle Lord dashed forward, reappearing before Lillian in a fraction of a second and whipping its fist towards her.
However, with an unexpected duck from Lillian, it would then miss.
The Jungle Lord was now open for attack!
Lillian lashed her sword out and left a shallow cut on its lower abdomen, drawing a thin line of blood that caused the Jungle Lord's glowing eyes to pulsate with rage.
At the same time, Lillian left an attack on its body, and it had already sent out its left fist towards the side of the head.
Fortunately, Lillian had managed to react to this—preemptively.
Raising her left arm and blocking with her gauntlet—
BAM!
—Lillian managed to survive the crushing blow.
[Sea Sprinter], that was the enchantment inscribed into her boots that boosted her overall speed by an additional 40%.
On top of her sword's enchantments [Explosive Speed] and [Electrifying Aura], she was now moving with the total additional speed of exactly 90%!
She shot towards the right, covering over several dozen metres, before landing on her feet and falling into a crouch.
After getting back her bearings and balance, Lillian looked at the cost for her survival.
Her gauntlet had managed to remain unscathed and without damage. However, she couldn't say the same about her forearm—it was broken.
She watched it lean to one side before quickly putting down her sword and keeping her arm up.
Although she had gained a tremendous amount of speed, it still wasn't enough for her to she could fully dodge its attacks.
But it was definitely enough for her to react to them.
She winced as she straightened her arm and waited as her arm magically repaired itself—the snapped bones in her arm mending back together.
How did it do that, you may ask?
While the Jungle Lord was inspecting its unexpected shallow wound with a rageful glow in its eyes, it discovered crimson lines in the corners of its eyes that connected to Lillian's left arm.
It had healed?
The Jungle Lord's glowing eyes flickered for a moment before returning to normal.
It looked towards Lillian's Parasitic Lines and found them rather suspicious, especially when it felt its lifeforce was decreasing rapidly by the second.
After inspecting its wound, it raised a foot to Lillian's Parasitic Lines and crushed them before lastly severing them with a kick.
The Jungle Lord would then take a single step and appear beside its battle axe, retrieving it, before doing the same with its spear.
The two would then face each other, locking eyes with one another, before blurring from their previous spots.
SPLASH! x 2
Their dash towards each other echoed from the splashing of the growing inch-tall water covering the ground.
Although Lillian's current speed wasn't equal to the Jungle Lord's, that didn't mean she couldn't try to rival it or reach close to it.
[Riptide Dash], that was her boots' second and last enchantment.
By allowing her to dash along the surface of the water with short, powerful bursts of speed—
CLANG!
—She would be able to temporarily match the speed of the Jungle Lord, while also being able to barely clash with it due to her enchantment's 25% strength amplification effect.
Even if it was only for the duration of the five dashes.
CLANG! DING! CLANG!
Lillian and the Jungle Lord clashed over and over again.
Although Lillian's body had begun to show more signs of damage, they would inevitably be repaired with each clash they made, which was mainly the cause of...
Lillian's Parasitic Line.
The Jungle Lord quickly caught onto her strategy and severed the Parasitic Line attached to its body.