Chapter 888: Crisscrossed Fantasies (3)
Swis.h.!.+ The two enormous scarlet blades clashed on the heavy s.h.i.+eld, sending sparks flying everywhere. Anne gnashed her teeth, clutched the s.h.i.+eld, and stared at her enemy before her in the eyes. But unlike her, the enemy Anne had no interest in interaction. Anne initially thought that she could have a short conversation with her other self, just to have an idea of how the other worlds worked. But she didn’t expect that her other self launched an attack without speaking a word. Fortunately, Anne wasn’t a pushover as a s.h.i.+eld Warrior. The instant the enemy attacked, she raised her s.h.i.+eld and defended herself. Boom! The stone bricks beneath her feet failed to withstand the powerful force and shattered instantly. But, even so, she lifted her head bravely and stared at her other self.
First round—draw.
“Woah. You’re Anne indeed. So strong. But…”
Anne’s emerald green eyes glinted and a green, wild airflow emerged around her. Although Anne couldn’t unleash her spiritual powers at the moment, the half-beast bloodline in her allowed her to manipulate the wind elements, which was her strongest weapon now.
“Anne has no time to play with you. Anne has to go now!”
Anne thrust her s.h.i.+eld forward and deflected the menacing red blades. Then, she retreated without taking a glance at the enemy and ran up to Marlene and Lize. At this moment, her most important task wasn’t to battle her strange other self. Marlene and Lize were in danger and she should be by their sides protecting them.
“Oooooh!”
But at this moment, she heard the howl of a beast and almost instinctively, she rolled and dodged to the side. At the same time, the enormous red blades brushed her and smashed into the ground in a loud explosion, where crushed stones and a few strands of golden hair fell…
“Ahh! Anne’s hair! You’re so annoying!”
Anne flung her hair before glaring fiercely at the enemy. What responded to her was the slash of the red blades, but this time Anne didn’t retreat. Instead, she charged ahead with the s.h.i.+eld in hand while the wind element burst behind her and sent her flying like a missile.
Boom!
Her s.h.i.+eld smashed the enemy’s chest and despite the enemy looking exactly like her, Anne showed no mercy. After striking the critical blow, she let out a snarl and erupted a powerful whirlwind from her s.h.i.+eld that blasted the berserker into the air.
But as soon as the berserker was about to land on the ground, she stomped her feet and forcefully held herself to the surface. Then, she plunged the swords into the ground and supported herself firmly!
“Ahhh! Anne hates such troublesome opponents!”
Anne curled her lips and grumbled, at the same time tugging the s.h.i.+eld handle with her right hand to activate the hidden mechanism. Kacha. The heavy s.h.i.+eld instantly transformed while white steam spurted from the opening. A sharp iron cone emerged from the bottom of the s.h.i.+eld and in the blink of an eye, the s.h.i.+eld turned into a deadly weapon in the shape of an inverted triangle. Anne burst forward in a trail of afterimages with white steam spurting from its edges. Within a split second, she arrived before the enemy with the razor-sharp iron cone aiming for her chest.
——!
Just as the iron cone was about to puncture the berserker’s chest, the berserker threw her arms up with the sword.
Boom!
The powerful impact caused the berserker to flinch and fall on her back. Anne seized this opportunity to deal a fatal blow when suddenly, she felt a strong impact on her stomach which blasted her away.
“Cough… Cough…”
Anne held her stomach and s.h.i.+eld firmly. She stood to her feet while staring at the enemy who had one foot raised while lying on the ground. It seemed like the enemy propelled her foot on Anne’s stomach to stop her attack.
“… This Anne is really hard to deal with…”
The berserker stood up slowly. But unlike the smiley Anne, she displayed the furious, terrifying look of an injured beast. Her eyes were slowly turning blood-red and at the same time, the two red swords in her hands flickered in a b.l.o.o.d.y radiance that slowly wrapped around her. She raised the two swords gradually and narrowed her eyes.
“Woah. Interesting.”
Anne licked her lips excitedly and a green radiance emanated from her eyes. Then, a whistling whirlwind rose from her feet and a bright green radiance enveloped her entirely. Then, she got into her battle stance.
At the next moment, the red and green radiances clashed.
Swish——!
The silver blade brushed Lize and despite the silver flames igniting the air and ground, they weren’t able to harm the young lady at all. Even though Lize’s robe was badly tattered, she maintained unprecedented calmness, clenching her fists and cautiously scanned the angel before her, minding the distance between them.
She didn’t need to win this battle because it was basically impossible with her current strength. All she could do was to drag the battle and wait for reinforcements! But… Would she be able to survive until then?
“You surprised me… to actually possess such strength.”
The angel raised her sword and squinted at her other self. She thought that her other self in the Cleric robe would be an easy target. But she didn’t expect the situation to exceed her expectations. Even though she relied on her instincts and speed to launch her attacks more than once, for some unknown reasons, Lize seemed to know how to react to them, and all her attacks missed. This was truly strange. How was it possible that she possessed such abilities?
“As long as one works hard, there’s nothing unachievable. I don’t wish to rely on Mr. Rhode all the time. I want to fight alongside him!”
Lize gnashed her teeth and stared at the angel. She had to admit that the angel version of herself was incredibly strong and fast in her movements. There were several times when she was dazzled by the striking blade which almost pierced her in a split second. If she hesitated for a mere second, perhaps she would have been dead.
“Besides… Your attacks are nothing compared to Miss Bubble’s!”
That’s right. This was the truth.
In the Land of Atonement, Marlene was occupied with her duties and even though Lize was the second adjutant, she basically didn’t need to handle political affairs. As a result, Mini Bubble Gum often dragged her into the mirage for intense training sessions and Lize couldn’t retaliate against Bubble’s attacks at all. Before she knew it, Bubble had attacked and sent her into a coma. Compared to Bubble’s terrifying strength, the angel was still far from powerful!
“Bubble? Who’s that? But it seems like you’ve a great teacher in this world. If only I were like you back then…”
The angel went into silence before shaking her head.
“But now, it is all meaningless.”
The angel raised her sword.
“Although you’ve become stronger, it is still far from enough!”
That’s right. Far from enough.
A blinding white radiance flashed.
The whistling blade airflow blazing with sacred flames streaked across the sky as they struck for Lize. But this time, Lize seemed much slower than before. She didn’t dodge immediately. Instead, she gazed blankly as the sword struck for her throat. But at this moment, she brandished her right fist and crashed onto the silver blade.
Boom!
The angel was stunned. Her blade was deflected. She missed!
Swish——!
At the same time, she grabbed and tugged her tattered robe with her left hand and threw it into the air to block the angel’s vision.
Trying to escape? How foolis.h.!.+
Although the angel was surprised by this counterattack, she still saw through Lize’s plan. She scoffed and silver flames erupted on her blade to devour the tattered robe.
“Such a move is meaningless. You…”
The angel didn’t finish her sentence.
Because she discovered that her silver flames were split by a ma.s.sive force and Lize soared into the air for her. Lize clutched the angel’s collar and hurled a punch with her right fist. Pow!
“Since you’re basically me, could it be that you’ve forgotten…!”
The instant Lize’s fist struck the angel’s cheek, she quickly grabbed onto the angel’s collar with both hands and tugged toward her. Pow! Lize struck with a headb.u.t.t and left the angel shrieking in pain. But this wasn’t the end. Lize propelled her knees into the angel’s stomach and this sudden attack sent her flying. Then, Lize somersaulted in midair and thrust her foot forward.
“… That I’m also a half-angel who’s immune to sacred flames!”
Boom!
The powerful kick sent the angel heavily cras.h.i.+ng to the ground. But this wasn’t enough for Lize. She wasn’t only waiting for a chance to retaliate. Instead, she was looking for a chance to turn defeat into victory.
As the angel crashed to the ground, Lize descended from above with her feet aiming merciless for her. The angel realized the horrible situation, but didn’t know how to deal with it. After all, from the world the angel came from, even hooligans fought with clubs and swords. She had never faced an attack with bare hands before!
What should I do?!
The angel rolled aside in a fl.u.s.ter to dodge the oncoming attack. However, Lize reacted swiftly. Although she missed her target, she quickly hurled a punch with her right fist.
“Go away!”
The angel panicked and brandished her sword in a fl.u.s.ter. But she didn’t expect that not only did Lize not dodge, but she also picked up speed and braced for it. Lize punched the blade with her left fist. Clang! The angel felt an immense force against her blade while Lize continued to take half a step forward. Then, she clenched her right fist.
“Mighty earth-shattering fist!”
Pow! Lize’s right fist rammed into the angel’s stomach heavily and blasted the angel into the air. All the angel’s pride and elegance were shattered in this blow and her spotlessly white armor and wings were left in a dirty and disorderly mess. She crashed to the ground miserably.
“Phew…”
Lize heaved a sigh of relief and held her slightly painful hands.
Just as Miss Bubble said; my punch has the strength of a half-angel and is much stronger than an ordinary swordsman’s. Even I didn’t expect it to be this successful. But…
A faint blush emerged across her cheeks.
Argh… Miss Bubble, why must you make me yell out the skill name whenever I attack!