NOVEL NEXT Chapter 161: Courage was a fickle thing
*Clang*
*Splash*
The mermen and Zyrus exchanged blows after blows. Neither side relented against the other's aggression.
Aqua bullets were countered by arcane lance whereas Spear aura confronted pikes on all sides. Even without his summons, Zyrus was akin to a one-man unit.
*Splatter*
Another bloody hole was added to his back. It couldn't be helped since he was outnumbered by 500 to 1- that too against lv 50 enemies.
Zyrus cursed the mermen leader and steadied his stance once again. The mermen leader was different from others. His deep blue armor and silver pike were both of rare grade. The same went for his large variety of skills.
This wasn't the first time Zyrus was the target of a kiting strategy, but still, it didn't make it any less troublesome. He was unable to move from his spot, and it gave the enemy ample time to sneak in their attacks.
*Sweep*
*Clang*
Zyrus swept his spear and parried dozens of pikes at the same time. The mermen came at him wave after wave without giving him a chance to recover. Whenever he tried to counterattack, he'd be bombarded by aqua bullets from all sides.
'Sucks that I can't use blood fusion,'
Since the mermen turned into puddles of water after their death, there was no time to absorb their blood. This highly restricted Zyrus's moves since he was unable to recover his HP at a fast rate.
'Since that's the case…I'll just give up on offense.'
Zyrus stabbed twilight crusher into the ground and used a more hands-on approach. Ymir's gauntlets were more effective when it came to simply deflecting the enemy's attacks.
He took on a boxing stance and made use of his nimbleness to avoid the pikes. Whenever he got the chance, he counterattacked by punching the pike's shafts.
"Kieuk-"
"Hahaha…weaklings."
It went without saying that the mermen were no match for Zyrus one-on-one. Just the aftershock from his punches was enough to knock back their spikes.
Zyrus also realized the limitations of using a spear at this moment. While it was a great weapon when he was on the offensive, it lacked mobility and defense. It was inefficient to use twilight crusher for defense and parry. Using his fists and tail consumed much less stamina while giving similar results.
Of course, this only worked due to the Glory's buff and his hard scales. Anyone else would've been turned into a beehive by now.
'Looks like they finally caught on,'
Zyrus gave the mermen leader a mocking smile as the latter changed the formation. It was obvious to anyone that Zyrus wouldn't fall at this rate. Forget about 30 minutes, he could fight like this for hours.
As if to infuriate the mermen further, Zyrus used this chance to gulp down a vitality potion. His wounds began to heal at a visible rate.
*Hzzzzzz*
The mermen weren't idle either. They focused their mana on their pikes and pointed it towards Zyrus. Since they were unable to take any advantage in close combat, they opted for a more straightforward strategy– bombardment.
*Shing*Shing*Shing*
Hundreds of aqua bullets shot towards him from all directions. Since Zyrus had given up on offense, there was no way for him to counterattack and interrupt their casting.
The mermen were preparing for a second attack even before the first volley hit him.
[Curse of Uncertainty: Void Quandary]
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Zyrus stood with his arms crossed and stared at the mermen leader. Nothing seemed to have changed, and yet, all of the bullets missed their mark.
"Vezhur talok!(Aim again)" the mermen leader shouted at his soldiers and took aim with his silver lance.
*Shiiiing*
But the results remained the same. Zyrus's mocking smile and bullets that phased through him were stabbing at their nerves.
Void quandary was based on Heisenberg's principle. It was impossible to determine a particle's position and momentum at the same time.
The more accurate one is, the less you could find about the other. This theory showed the inherent unpredictability of particles at the quantum level.
Zyrus used the same principle to evade the bullets. Even as a magical attack they were directed at something in the end.
And it made him invulnerable to bullets.
Observing his position would change his momentum. And if the bullets focused on his momentum, then 'Void Quandary' would change his position.
The simplest way to negate this was by shooting towards Zyrus without observing anything about him. There would be no uncertainty without any external observation.
Then again, how many could figure this out when they were in the middle of a battle? Even if they did, Zyrus wouldn't sit like a duck and let them attack.
He would get the best chance to counterattack the moment they stopped observing him.
Time ticked by and the mermen became more and more frustrated. At the 25-minute mark, close to three thousand of them were attacking Zyrus.
They no longer cared about friendly fire and rushed at Zyrus even while their allies were raining down bullets from behind. Their strategy bore fruits because even though it looked like Zyrus was unharmed under the hail of aqua bullets, only he himself knew how much energy was consumed for that.
Their madness and brutality affected the nearby players. Every uninjured player threw caution to the wind and lunged at the merman. It didn't take long before the strategic confrontations were turned into an all-out brawl.
This was the outcome Zyrus desired from the start. Be it the noxious shrine or his provocation to the elite squad, everything was done to achieve the current scenario.
A mob of weaklings couldn't surpass a well-organized army. But what if that army lost its command chain? What if they focused all their attention somewhere else and neglected the minor details? The result of that was the current scenario.
Mermen's mobility became useless when they were trapped by a troll. Their armor meant nothing when an ogre's fist came towards their head. Humans, rats, beasts... all of them used their inherent advantages to their full potential. They complimented one another and made up for their weaknesses.
90,000 players were no match for 20,000 mermen. However, the case was different when 5 players confronted a single merman.
*Baaang*
"Cough-damn that hurt," Zyrus choked on his blood after getting hit on the chest. The impact was similar to a full-blown cannon.
He staggered back up and sent a bloody grin at the perpetrator of the attack. It wasn't his style to take a one sided beating. He had noticed the mermen leader who was sneaking his way over, but instead of avoiding it, he took a hit and delivered a punch in return.
A punch with full stacks of 'Rage of the Jotunn' and 'Vortex manipulation'. The former added a staggering critical damage boost while the latter stirred the mermen leader's insides.
Compared to him, his opponent was in a far worse state. His dark blue armor was broken in the middle with its bits and pieces stuck inside his chest. Worse, there was a conical hole that pierced right through his midriff.
There were still two minutes left before the space was conquered. But rather than both sides going all out, they were just fighting for the sake of it.
'We won.'
Zyrus absolutely loved noxious shrine for times like these. It was a perfect ability to lower the enemy's morale. It could be imagined how disastrous the losses would be if the mermen decided to launch suicidal attacks at the last minute.
He limped his way over to the twilight crusher and stood his ground. One side's leader was knocked out unconscious while the others' was standing victorious.
Even if the mermen wanted to launch a final charge, they had no one to command them.
Courage was a fickle thing. Even the mightiest of armies would collapse after the loss of their leader, much less a bunch of mermen.
[Congratulations! You have conquered a space]
[The bubble has been repaired]
[The bubble had been permanently anchored to this space]
[Water affinity +5%]
||| Creating a safe Zone |||
"Wooooo"
"We did it!"
"All hail his majesty!"
The unwilling mermen were thrown back outside. Under the players' cheers and heartfelt laughter, a green light erupted from all around and created a dome-shaped ceiling.
|_| Safe Zone has been created |_|
All fights are forbidden
All wounds will be healed
Time left >> 23:59:59
Zyrus plopped down in exhaustion and drank one potion after another. One of the perks of being the leader was that he could afford to be a bit wasteful. Using more potions wouldn't heal him any faster, but at least he'd be able to move around.
There was another round of cheers and applause when Zyrus stood up and walked to the temporary command center. One reason for that was their respect towards him who guarded the anchor and shifted the tides of battle. The other, more important reason, was their expectations for rewards.
Everyone knew by now that Zyrus was working on runes and elemental powers. The players didn't care about his grand plans for creating a subclass and whatnot. What they desired was something more simple.
Just like their leader, they too wanted to become stronger.