Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1310: Hummingbird of Blood

Below, at the foot of a ruined pavilion, was a blue barrier surrounded by Oathguard, maintaining and desperately defending it with a shield wall. Outside, golems were running around, collecting bodies and limbs, throwing them into the circle.

Inside this weird arena, only two figures fought. One was the tall tiger man, wading through bodies and blood, swinging the Axe of Polytechnus. Opposite him was a tall cultivator, looking like he was in his forties, wielding a single-edged blade.

“You filthy beasts!” a middle-aged man screeched, as pieces of his disciples and colleagues hit him during the fight. This was not just a strategy to mess with the manʼs motivation and mentality. Mina quickly understood why they were doing this when she saw the figure of a Keres flying around between the bodies like a hummingbird of blood.

Neither Duhu, nor the cultivator used fancy techniques or skills, a pure clash of weapons and strength. As a Tijaahk, the tiger man already possessed powerful stats and multipliers in addition to his high level and equipment.

Yet, despite being supposed to shine in this scenario, it was Duhu who kept collecting wounds with every encounter. The short exchange Mina witnessed made it clear who had the upper hand. The only reason he was able to keep this up was the Feast of the Keres, constantly healing and buffing him, by consuming the blood in his vicinity. The barrier made sure the cultivator couldnʼt leave this area, where Duhu had an advantage.

The reason he was forced to fight this battle of attrition was also clear. If Duhu didnʼt hold the cultivator back, nobody present would have had the chance to survive, much less flee. The tiger barely managed to stay alive and buy time.

“Tsk, I wanted a challenge, but this seems almost impossible,” Mina mumbled, feeling humbled by the power of the cultivator. She felt an annoying pang in her chest when she remembered what Seth said. She could compete with some people of the Severing spirit Realm, but the stronger ones and those in the even higher realms were still beyond her.

She also remembered her near helplessness when that demon appeared during the tournament. Was she destined to be left behind by others, only being able to be saved and do the easy work? No! She wouldnʼt accept that! So what if she wasnʼt chosen by a god, or had a high level? She was versatile, and she had a brain. She would prove to herself and the others that she was not going to be shoved to the sidelines!

Mina strengthened her resolve as the night grew darker.

...
Duhu was not in a good spot. They had managed to force the cultivator into a disadvantageous situation, but the opponent still held the upper hand. Although the power the Keres sent him could heal and buff him, it had only a small impact on his stamina.

He had already fought and killed two cultivators in the spirit severing realm before this third one appeared. After two difficult fights, he was forced to fight someone even stronger. After trying to stay alive against this guy for almost half an hour, Duhuʼs stamina was reaching its limits. He had no idea how many more minutes he was able to keep his life.

The thought of victory was not present; just buying time for reinforcements to get here. Maybe if they all fought together, they could take this guy down or make him retreat. He had considered transforming, but a big tiger would have only been a big target for his opponent.

“Shit...” Duhu cursed under his breath as his vision darkened. Was he already this far gone? he thought he would be able to last longer? But why didnʼt he feel any different... It was because it was not his vision darkening, but the night itself.

The distant light of the city, the stars, and the moon had vanished, as true darkness fell over the battlefield. People with or other senses were barely able to see, while the others stood still, afraid to move in the dark.

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Duhu could still see well, as his species had eyes naturally adapted to darkness. The following clash between his axe and the blade showed, that the cultivator also wasnʼt bothered by the darkness. Duhu had heard that cultivators had a kind of life detection ability or something like that, so it was not overly surprising.

Despite the short shock and the lack of effect of the darkness, Duhu breathed a little lighter now, knowing that one of his allies had arrived to support him. He was relieved, until he was forced to make a sudden jump back to evade friendly fire.

Swarms of dark blades, barely visible as a haze of shadows slightly darker than the surroundings, were spawning all around him and his opponent. Duhu was only able to evade because he was not the target.

The cultivator finally bled. The shadow blades, shooting silently and without presence, were imperceptible to the blind man, yet he still managed to evade any major injuries. Duhu saw it perfectly. The cultivator had actually evaded with a minimum of movements whenever a blade cut him.

“Mina! Iʼm also in here!” Duhu cried out, when he realized that the blades kept spawning and there was no intention to stop. “Then get out,” the serious voice of the cat girl answered him. Duhu hesitated for a moment before he nodded and retreated from the thunderdome.

He wanted to speak up, but he was too tired to argue with Mina. Instead, he decided to stay guard outside and protect the barrier if the cultivator tried to escape. He didnʼt know what made the lady of Minas Mar so determined, but she was definitely doing a better job than the fatigued him.

....

Mina admitted, that she was not the best in reacting to being ambushed herself, but as an assassin, she was confident in her power, when she got to prepare and ambush others. So what of she couldnʼt face one of these guys in a direct confrontation? She was an assassin and a shadow mage, direct confrontation wasnʼt her style to begin with!

This poor sob would lend himself to prove a point.

With the stage set by her it was just a matter of time. Incessantly, she fired a meat grinder of shadow blades at the cultivator, who kept becoming more proficient in evading them with barely a nick in his skin. but that didnʼt matter, Mina was playing the numbers game. ṙÀŊ𝘖₿ËS

She relied on her class, skills and various items to enter a war of attrition, while her opponent was confined in the barrier. Still, it was not easier, just to harm him, she had to fire machine gun fire spells that would mow down lv.80 humanoids with ease. Even with all her advantages, her mana was draining at a visible rate.

“Haha, I donʼt know who you are, but this is definitely more fun than that that furry guy. however, Iʼm already used to these attacks, you wonʼt be able to beat me like this,” the middle aged man bragged, as the first slashes he suffered were already healing. As if his taunt offended Fortune herself, he regretted his words the next moment.

Every attack Mina fired and hit with, carried the chance of dozens of curses, even if it only caused a minuscule amount of damage, it was a hit. Hundreds of hits were guaranteed to trigger something at some point. But who would have thought...

“AHHH!”

Smaller curses had been triggered before, but the powerful man had just shrugged them off, but not this time. A horrid wail echoed through the darkness, striking into their bones as it carried shock and terror with it.

“WhAt iS tHiS?! What HAVE you DONE to ME!?” the man screeched in hysteria, pulling open the top of his robe, revealing his well developed pectoral muscles, now decorated by a pair of saggy tits hanging all the way to his belly button.

Mina didnʼt bother with the notification and focused on the fight. She didnʼt expect this, but she wasnʼt missing this chance. The moment his mind blurred, Minas attacked with everything she had. Hundreds of shadow blades rent the manʼs body to a bloody mess.

“No, I wonʼt die like this!” the man mumbled, barely more than a skeleton covered in ground meat, and popped a pill in his mangled jaws. Seeing this, Duhu wanted to charge in and finish off the mortally wounded enemy, but it was too late.

The man rapidly healed and soon he returned to the state he was in before Minaʼs attack, exactly that state, saggy tits and all.

“You will pay for this! i will-” his words were interrupted by a massive shadow spike impaling his abdomen. Mina still had a third of her mana, she could still do this as long as he stayed in place! Reading her next wave, she heard a notification rain on her parade.

Minas stared at the cultivator in shock, whose lifeless form lost all tension and hung limply over her shadow spike. Her attack to keep him in place had actually managed to trigger the instant death effect, just several thousand hits after the Curse of the lover...

This really was her lucky day... or his unlucky one.