Without wasting any time with words, they attacked.
Rean and Roan shot forward with a speed that far surpassed what they had used until now. But that wasn't all. The moment they left their position, there wasn't only two, but six of them! Three Reans and three Roans at the same time!
Lovak was taken aback by that. The worst thing was that his Spiritual Sense couldn't tell which one was real and which one was false. But then he remembered the first attack he received during that ambush. At that moment, all six swords coming at him were real. He still could feel the pain of the cuts left behind by all six slashes. That being said, he didn't dare think that there would be fake images. He treated every single one as real!
Lovak didn't stay still. Instead, he began to retreat so that he wouldn't be surrounded by the twins. At the same time, he released waves of Spiritual Energy released through his Saber one after another.
Still, Rean and Roan were moving too fast! Because of a small mistake, four of the six mirages came surrounded him and launched attacks together!
Lovak didn't panic, though. Spiritual Energy burst out of his Saber as he struck the ground with it.
*Boom!*
The ground broke as dirt and stones splashed everywhere around him. As fast as Rean and Roan could be, they couldn't dodge those things if there was no space to do so. Without any other choice, they could only defend themselves.
Lovak noticed that two of the copies slowed down and took that opportunity to charge out of the encirclement. Of course, he didn't stop there. He now understood where Rean and Roan were located and immediately launched his attacks against the two.
Fortunately, Lovak's proficiency with his Saber was far behind Rean and especially Roan's ability with Swords. However, that wasn't all. Lovak's Rumbling Core technique made his attacks reach the power of a Middle Stage Core Formation Realm. Even though Rean and Roan had more skill, they would suffer from holding back Lovak's sheer raw power.
Too bad, though. Lovak just had to fight these twins. Just like they did with the Stage 3 Inferno Wolf, Rean and Roan once again joined hands to fend the enemy's attacks together!
*Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!*
In just a few seconds, both sides exchanged several attacks. Lovak, of course, couldn't believe what he saw. He attacked them because he was sure they wouldn't resist the difference in power. But Rean and Roan combined their strengths to fight him together. Both Swords moved as if they were being controlled by the same person. The combination was so perfect that even Lovak wouldn't believe if he wasn't seeing it with his own eyes.
Lovak didn't continue for long, though. Not that he didn't want, but because he couldn't. Lovak only fended off four enemies with his ground attack. There were still two of them free.
Still, those last two were a little further, so they could only use their ranged attacks.
'Death Style, First Form, Stellar Piercer!'
Another two rays of Light and Dark Energy came flying at Lovak's body, which greatly alarmed him.
'The copies can use the techniques too?!'
Without another choice, he could only give up his assault and dodge. Of course, Rean and Roan wouldn't miss such a chance. Much less the other two copies that finished passing through the rubbles. They knew that Lovak wouldn't expect that they could defend against his attacks, which would create an aperture.
'Third Form, Three Claws of the Dragon!'
'Second Form, Crescent Moon!'
'First Form, Stellar Piercer!'
Right where Lovak dodged, another three waves of sword attacks came at him. Lovak felt his heart skip. He immediately brandished his Saber, sending a powerful wave of Spiritual Energy sweeping all the swords coming at him. At the same time, he jumped away. Of course, he couldn't possibly eliminate all attacks. Only a third of their power was blocked. Still, that just gave him enough time to escape death or being severely injured.
At this moment, Lovak was in a dilemma. There were way too many enemies for him to deal alone. If things continued like this, he would definitely lose. However, he understood that just like his Rumbling Core Technique, the twins' technique definitely put a great burden on their Spiritual Energy too. In theory, as a Core Formation Realm cultivator, he should be able to battle for longer.
However, what if he was wrong? Every second that his Rumblind Core was active, the worse became his situation.
Lovak then spread his Spiritual Sense around once more. As soon as he did that, he felt a cold chill on his back. His companions were falling one after another. Soon, the power of the formation will be redirected at him. Even if he wins this battle, he might not have enough power to revert the situation and retake control of the formation. Chances were he would die trying.
*swish, swish!*
Once again, Lovak dodged two Stellar Piercers from Rean and Roan. At the same time, he finally began to feel the backlash of his Rumblind Core Technique. In the end, Lovak greeted his teeth and made a decision.
'Run!'
Spiritual Energy gathered around his legs as he jumped in a different direction from Rean and Roan. In a moment, he was already on top of the Fort Walls. There was nothing wrong with that decision. One must remember, Lovak is a bandit, not an upright person. He definitely wouldn't give up his life just to keep his honor, that's for sure.
Rean and Roan noticed what he was trying to do, and so did Sister Orb. She then deviated some of the formation's power and tried to block Lovak's escaping route. Rean and Roan also rushed at him. Unfortunately, Lovak was still using his Rumbling Core. Not to mention that the formation's power wasn't all focused on him. Using brute force, he broke through the Spiritual Energy Swords, quickly leaving the formation's range.
Roan looked at that and raised his hand.
"Let him go."
Rean stopped as well and didn't say anything. Immediately after, their copies turned into specs of Light and Dark Energies, quickly disappearing. Rean's knees then fell on the floor while he used his Sword to maintain equilibrium. Although Roan didn't fall, he was very close to do that as well. In the end, Lovak was right. Rean and Roan's Fifth Form of the Death Style was extremely burdensome to the body. One would wonder which side would fall first.
Rean then took a deep breath and channeled his Spiritual Energy, promptly gathering the Light Element on the surroundings. The used it to alleviate the pressure in his body after they canceled the technique. He also sent a wave of Light Energy into Roan's body through their Soul Connection to help him recover. Roan, of course, didn't complain.
"In the end, he was too much for both of us."
Roan shook his head.
"What I didn't expect was that he had a technique that could increase his power so much. There was nothing we could do about that. Also, don't look down at what we did. Different from the Inferno Wolf, we were fighting a real human being. Someone who had intelligence! Not to mention that he definitely went through several life and death situations in his life. If we battled that Inferno Wolf again while using the fifth form, that demon beast would have died 10 times over already."
Roan wasn't discouraged by the result. His objective during this mission was very simple, acquiring combat experience! This last battle against Lovak left nothing for him to complain about.
Rean nodded and didn't say anything else. Around a minute later, he got up and looked around with Roan. At the same time, they saw Oritis and Rolim returning from the building that they thought the hostages were locked inside. From the looks of it, they finished their job too. Luina was still battling the sub-leaders of the group, but it was evident that her enemies wouldn't last much longer. Not to mention that Sister Orb began to shift more and more of the formation's power towards them.
Roan's expression didn't change, though.
"Let's finish cleaning."
By the end of the assault at the Gold Hands Bandit Group's Nest, only their Leader escaped. The rest was utterly wiped out.