Free Web NovelChapter 58: Ongole And Anema
Pausing for a bit, Vael took a deep breath and assessed the situation. His gaze moved to the creature, scanning its body, then its head, and lastly the ram’s massive blood-forged hammer.
’He can summon creatures... this can make it messy...’
Vael was annoyed, sure, but there wasn’t any hint of worry on his face. All his experience told him that there was no way a tier II monster could summon a creature of a higher rank.
And if they could summon multiple monsters, their tier would generally be of a lower rank.
’If he is a summoner, then his durability won’t be much...’
Relying on his fundamental knowledge of the class system, Vael dashed toward the vampire.
Unlike the goblins, Markhor didn’t announce itself. Without any roar or posturing, the beast simply crossed the distance between them and swung its hammer in a low, devastating arc aimed at Vael’s legs.
Instead of moving away from it, Vael stepped inside the swing.
Vael let the haft brush his hip and drove his elbow into the creature’s forearm, disrupting the follow-through, then brought his blade up in a sharp diagonal cut across the thing’s chest.
Markhor staggered a bit, then something awakened inside of it. The momentum that had built from that single exchange seemed to feed back into its frame. It straightened faster than it should have.
Vael could swear he saw the summon’s lips curl a bit.
Markhor swung its hammer again; this time, it came harder than the first.
Blocking the attack, Vael realized something: ’Does it have a quirk?...’
He activated his quirk and understood something: ’It gets stronger as the fight goes on. I have to finish it before it can build a rhythm.’
Vael pushed forward instead of circling, keeping the pressure erratic. He refused to let Markhor find its footing.
[Skill Flash Acceleration has been activated.]
[Skill Multi-Strike has been activated.]
Flash Acceleration carried Vael in short bursts, each angle different from the previous one, while the Multi-Strike Sequence hammered at Markhor in quick, unpredictable combinations.
From behind, Lucian watched the skirmish between the two. And from above, Dhruv was watching them all.
The moment any of the hunters tried to create a breather, Dhruv sent the goblins to their side. He left no gap for the others to slip by and help Vael.
Lucian glanced at the blood trickling from his wrist and sighed.
Without his blood manipulation, this evolution of his wouldn’t be as strong, as he could only maintain the summon until the blood continued to flow out from his veins.
Because of Blood Storage and his ability to control the blood flow, he had bought himself a large amount of time.
Not worried a bit, Lucian turned his head back and looked at Vael. He tracked his movements by reading the way mana flowed through the hunter’s body.
He instinctively steps into the swings. He favors his right shoulder on overhead strikes and uses short bursts; he always leads with the blade tip, never the edge. Lucian thought.
Knowledge is power, and information paves the way. And that was what Lucian was collecting right now.
Every second of Vael fighting Markhor was a second of Vael expressing his intent to Lucian. And the little vampires absorbed everything with a smile. freёweɓnovel.com
With enough time passed, Lucian pressed two fingers to his other wrist and made a deep cut again.
Blood gushed out, and soon, the second figure rose, more slowly than the first. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Where Markhor had been violent, this one looked like the embodiment of patience. Blood began gathering upward in dense, heavy layers before solidifying from the ground up.
It was a muscular humanoid creature with a bull’s head; its expression showed a heaven’s worth of patience. By the time it was fully formed, it stood half a head taller than Markhor.
Instead of moving forward, it moved between Lucian and Vael, acting as his shield.
"Ongole," Lucian whispered, making eye contact with his summon, while patting him on the waist. He wanted to pat him on the shoulder like his master, but his height was making it impossible.
He had named each of them, understood their nature, and had gotten familiar with the single ability each of them possessed.
A wide shield bloomed from Ongole’s hands as he faced Vael’s direction.
Vael glanced at it mid-exchange with Markhor and felt something shifting within the battlefield.
’Two summons now...’ He thought, a frown appearing on his face.
The past few minutes of battle told him how wrong his initial judgment was.
The summons were of tier II rank, but were at the absolute peak of it, able to survive fighting with him, a max tier III hunter.
’Have to kill the summoner quickly....’
While Vael knew what to do, the path wasn’t going to be easy, for the new summon had just closed the most direct line to Lucian, the little vampire.
[Skill Air Step has been activated.]
Disengaging from Markhor with a backward Air Step, he cleared three meters in a single push off the ground.
Lucian didn’t move from his position. He remained standing behind Ongole with his arms at his sides, blood still oozing lazily from the cut on his forearm. He was looking at Vael the way someone looks at a problem they’re almost done solving.
There was no worry in his expression, and that bothered Vael more than the summons.
’Is he overconfident or just confident...’
Hoping for the former, Vael came forward again, this time aiming at Ongole to test the extent of its capabilities.
[Skill Steel Splitter has been activated.]
Steel Splitter loaded into his arms as he swung with such a force that it drove the blade directly into the shield. The shield cracked slightly before spreading across its surface.
Markhor chimed in quickly, swinging his hammer hard, forcing Vael to step aside and cut low. Ongole interposed himself, his shield blocking the strike from the hunter.
’The shield healed...’ Clicking, his tongue, Vael Air stepped a few meters away.
[Quirk Learn has been activated.]
His quirk allowed him to learn about the abilities of others if they used them once in his presence.
[Ongole: Smart Barrier– The longer Ongole goes without taking more than two steps within a minute, the sturdier he and his shield become.]
’So, that’s why the summoner remains behind him.’
"Let’s make the number even, shall we..." Muttering, Lucian moved his hand, this time cutting his left forearm.
The blood oozed and, before solidifying, it split into two exact same streams, taking shape simultaneously in separate places. One formed at Vael’s left flank, one at his right.
While the other summons looked like beasts, this one took the appearance of an angel, her femininity unparalleled, her beauty reaching for the control of one’s mind.
"Meet her... she is Anema... now shall we wrap this up? I’ve. let you exist within the dungeon long enough already..." Lucian muttered, intending to finish the battle as soon as possible.
