Bab 429: A Shield Must Remain Unwavering
Thirn recovered and aimed his crossbow, but it was quickly slammed into the ground by the kite shield. Unable to recover it he quickly made the decision of abandoning it and let go. Just as he stepped back he felt a solid surface on his back. His eyes widened for a moment, 'Shouldn't there only be three shields?!'
Another shield slammed into his stomach, and with his body against essentially an immovable wall the impact was further increased. He felt as if something was crushed, and no matter how hard he struggled he couldn't free himself.
Fear. That's what he felt at that moment. Being stuck between two objects he couldn't move, he was trapped. With his crossbow out of his reach his only option was. . . !
Reaching down to his side he pulled out a much smaller crossbow, one that could easily be held with one hand. Pointing it towards Tilia he quickly released the bolt.
[Clockwork Bolts: Second Hand Skip]!
Tilia didn't bother to block this one, instead she dodged it by moving slightly out of the way. Lifting her hand a kite shield hovered in front of Thirn's face. Recalling what had just happened to his stomach he felt queasy, "D-Don't!"
~ ~ ~
Aaron frowned, "What a brutal way to fight."
Akiol shook his head and disagreed, "A necessary way to fight."
"Necessary? Thirn looks like he's fully panicked right now."
"You haven't fully understood Tilia's way of fighting have you?"
"We chose her as a candidate due to her powerful defense. Had I known about this way of fighting. . ."
"It's precisely because of this defense that she chose to fight like this. When you're responsible for the safety of your team you must take extreme action. If your goal is to make the number smaller, you have no choice but to eliminate them one at a time. By doing it in a brutal way you demoralize your enemy, making each subsequent elimination easier than the last."
Kan'na continued, "A way of fighting that targets the mental status of your opponent. Its whole goal is to make defense easier. When your enemy hesitates out of fear, that means less attacks you have to deal with. Things like honor, pride, pity, and whatnot have no business on the field of life or death."
Aaron adjusted his glasses, "You say that, but you're a Semi-Immortal. Do you truly understand the meaning of death?"
"There's a reason we have Semi in the name. Why some of us may not fear death like the rest of you, many of us understand the meaning behind it."
Horrow silenced any further complaint from Aaron, "What they're saying is that they do what they must. We are in no position to criticize it."
"Yes Chief. . .", Aaron responded meekly.
~ ~ ~
As Tilia's kite shield moved towards Thirn's face he closed his eyes.
Bwong~
The pain didn't come, opening his eyes he saw Pale stand in front of him. Her shield blocking the kite shield from Tilia. Pale's hair swayed back to its resting place, a showcase of her speed. Thirn suddenly felt his heart at ease. His fear flickered away.
Pale prevented the kite shield from moving any further, "You have done quite the number on my teammate. However I cannot allow such attacks to continue."
Tilia wasn't concerned that she was now against two opponents. Rather she was concerned with what happened to Yuto. He was doing just fine earlier. In her moment of aiming to defeat Thirn she temporarily lost sight of her teammates.
Cain appeared next to Pale, "You truly proved troublesome, but it's our turn to turn the tides!"
Tilia scanned the field, she noticed the still bodies of her teammates. She silently narrowed her eyes. She had made a fatal mistake. Yuto and Ninn were not any of her Party members. She had no idea how they fought. By trusting in their unknown abilities she left them unprotected. Even if it was all in just a moment. . .
But what had happened?
~ ~ ~
Slightly earlier. . .
"To distribute your focus not only on the chains, but my actions as well. A truly commendable feat."
Yuto yanked a chain and through the dome of chains he managed to create one shot towards Pale. It smacked onto her mace and wrapped around it. After restricting her weapon he bounced the scythe towards her arm. Pale watched as it approached, not bothering to move. The scythe flew and hit her arm, but it proved to be ineffective. It merely bounced off her armor, failing to even scratch the metal.
Pale's expression remained unwavering, "To think you are unable to pierce my armor. If that is the case then your loss is assured."
"I doubt that!"
Pulling a chain down he made the scythe bounce off it and aim towards her head. This time Pale did not stand still, instead she pulled the mace forward. Yuto's muscles bulged as he tried to fight against the sudden pull, but to no avail. Pulling the chains down Pale redirected the scythe away, "A key weakness to your plan, if your opponent holds greater strength than you it will all fall apart."
Pang~
The handle of the scythe bounced off and aimed towards Pale's knee. As if she expected this she moved her shield to the side and blocked it without looking. The angle it bounced caused it to smack against the ground and lose its momentum. It bounced thrice before stopping.
Pale pulled the chains again, this time with greater strength. Metal digging into his arms Yuto found himself being lifted into the air by the chains. He watched as the dome he carefully created was slowing collapsing.
Freeing her mace from the chains Pale commented, "Additionally this relies on your opponent not gaining any insight on how this works. You're not the only one who was keeping track of it all."
Walking towards a nearby chain she yanked it towards her. Near Yuto a chain descended and wrapped around his neck. Walking towards Yuto Pale continued, "Your efforts are not wasted, had it been someone else they would have been overwhelmed by this tactic."
"Are you saying this was just some bad matchup?", Yuto grunted.
"Something of the sort. Normally I would have you continue, but my teammate is struggling and I must assist."
"That's what you probably think isn't it?"
Pale's eyes narrowed, "I assume you believe otherwise?"
"Yeah, after all the reason why I'm like this is because I'm still holding on. To the chain that is."
Her eyes flicked towards Yuto's hand, it turning pale from his effort to hold on. With a struggling grin Yuto let go, and the chains that bound him immediately loosened. Slipping through the gaps he retreated.
After all there was one reason why he let himself seemingly be captured. It was due to The Endlessly Chained Scythe, it held one additional feature. While it could continuously extend, shortly after he let go it would rapidly return to normal.
Just as intended the chains began to shrink rapidly. Due to Yuto's painstaking efforts the dome of chains seemed to shrink around Pale. Like a spider using its web to trap prey. In the blink of an eye Pale was completely wrapped in chain, it continuing to tighten as the scythe attempted to return to normal.
Pale was impressed, 'This must be the main reason why he put up such a show to make that dome. I had thought it was inefficient, a clear mistake on my part.'
"I know for a fact that won't hold you for long, so I'll finish you in a single blow!"
From his bag Yuto pulled out another scythe. This one looked far more sinister, a strange purplish energy swirling around it. Crouching down he held the scythe like it was a bat, the purple energy spreading out like some sort of explosion.
Yuto's class was also special, it was a unique class he gained from this exact scythe. However he found its abilities to be a little too strong, so he opted to use The Endlessly Chained Scythe instead. For what is class was specifically. . .
It was known as The Reaper's Disciple.
A shadowy cloaked figure appeared above Yuto. It holding a simplistic yet sinister scythe. Purple energy swirled upwards towards the scythe, and a pair of purple glowing eyes formed underneath the hood.
[Reaper's Scorn: Atonement]!
"It was a pleasure to fight you!"
Yuto swung his scythe forward, the shadowy figure above him following his movements. The massive scythe aiming to cleave Pale into two!
The sound of metal shattering entered his ears, and his scythe suddenly stopped moving despite not hitting anything. His eyes widened to see Pale holding her shield casually. No signs of the chains anywhere, and the massive shadowy figure's scythe being blocked by her shield.
Yuto quivered, [Reaper's Scorn: Atonement] was supposed to go through objects. It had no physical form! It was precisely for this reason that he thought it was too strong! Yet somehow Pale blocked it?!
"How. . . ?", Yuto couldn't believe it.
"The intangible, truly troublesome. However I long overcame such attacks. As a Paladin I must not allow any attacks to harm my teammates. No matter what it is."
Pushing against the scythe Pale shattered the shadowy figure's scythe, "This illusion you created, would I be correct in assuming only I can see it?"
"You shouldn't be able to block it. . . !"
"Nothing will get past my shield. Now. . . I cannot dwindle any longer."
Pale's figure flickered and appeared in front of Yuto. His eyes widened, this speed wasn't something a Paladin should have-!
Swinging her mace down she crushed Yuto's skull. He slumped to the ground and remained still.
"Now then. . ."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone