Chapter 114: Fierce Fight
Under the moonlight, two gale horse chased after each other quickly with a trail of smoke.
The night passed in the blink of an eye, but the chasing “game” was still not over. However, Chen Rui clearly knew that the gale horse was reaching its limit.
Yet, the strategy should be successful. Chen Rui knew that his strength was still slightly below that of Barnacle. Thus, he applied the stalling strategy. For Barnacle, who used his demonic fire to control and arouse the gale horse, this night was plain consumption; whereas it was recovery for Chen Rui, who communicated with the gale horse through <Analytical Eyes>, and used potions and <Astral Form> to heal.
In this way, he could further reduce the differences between their strength, and also increase the ferocity of battle and the possibility of breaking through the bottleneck. Certainly, the final result wasn’t just about winning and losing but also likely to be life and death.
Chen Rui exchanged 4 bottles of potions and drank them. This time, it wasn’t the previous recovery potions but True black potions, Strength Potion, Spirit Potion, Iron Wall and Wind Walk. Each of them could increase the attribute by 60%, and they lasted for 20 minutes.
Barnacle saw the enemy in front threw potion bottles backward again and he was cursing in his heart. This “bombing” attack wasn’t lethal, but it was plainly putting shame on him.
Suddenly, the enemy “threw” himself out too!
At that moment, it was like the running gale horse was slowed down. He saw his enemy’s hand became like a knife and struck toward him by relying on the strong inertia. Decades of combat experience gave Barnacle an instinct that the hand was actually like a true blade. He always believed in his instinct, so he made the most correct response; teleporting.
However, he was still too slow. The hand of his opponent sliced past and the head of the gale horse instantly flew away. That force didn’t weaken even after it left half a meter from Chen Rui. Barnacle felt pain in his shoulder and his shoulder armor was divided into two with fresh blood gushing out from beneath.
Actually, that happened in the blink of an eye. Chen Rui immediately jumped off from the gale horse, somersaulted and landed on the ground; Barnacle teleported to a distance and a bloody wound appeared on his shoulder while the gale horse that Barnacle was riding had been beheaded.
Barnacle ignored the wound on his shoulders. His pupils contracted and his eyes focused on the slightly glowing hand of Chen Rui. He looked dignified and his demonic fire flared. Then, he held his scythe and posed to defensive stance.
Chen Rui knew that the black potions’ effective time were limited, so he struck again with <Aura Blade>. Barnacle’s scythe parried and the <Aura Blade> hit on the pole, making a clear sound, but it was still unscathed. It seemed that this scythe wasn’t only infused with Barnacle’s power but was also made of special materials. Chen Rui’s <Aura Blade> could slice through Athena’s greatsword, but couldn’t damage this weird scythe even a little.
This time, Barnacle learned his lesson. He promptly dodged the invisible sword qi and became a little more restrained. Chen Rui approached and started a fierce attack. Barnacle was surprised to find that his opponent’s strength, speed, and other attributes were significantly enhanced. Sometimes, he struck with the strange, sharp blade while other times, he replaced with a surging force. His defense actually couldn’t fare freely; he felt faintly suppressed.
However, Barnacle wasn’t only good in defense; he had fierce attacks too. Although Chen Rui drank the black potions, Barnacle was at the peak of Higher Demon that almost realized the power of Demon King. Thus, Barnacle’s strength was greater. For a moment, Chen Rui suffered a few heavy attacks, and his injuries were quite severe.
Barnacle teleported to dodge a blow of his <Aura Blade>. Right when he stood firmly, he saw his opponent spread his fingers and aimed at his position. When he felt that something was wrong, a light ball had already shot toward him at high speed.
Such an attack was like someone suddenly pulled out a pistol and fired during a close, physical combat between two martial artists. If there weren’t any special precautions or early reaction, it was generally impossible to dodge the shot; one could only defend forcefully.
This was the first <Aurora Shot> by Chen Rui in battle after 200 days of training in the surfy sea.
If Paglio was present, he’d definitely look surprised because this <Aurora Shot> was 1/3 smaller than the original yet its destructive power had increased by more than 1/3!
The light ball gushed toward Barnacle in an instant. He couldn’t dodge it. He felt the terrifying power of the light ball approaching. Suddenly, his body was covered with blazing flame and both of his hands were holding his scythe tightly to parry the <Aurora Shot>!
The moment the scythe came in contact with the white light ball, Barnacle’s body shuddered and he looked uncomfortable. He felt that his proud defensive ability was actually terribly strenuous in the face of such terrifying attacks. His feet began to move backward involuntarily. Even the magical scythe, a masterpiece of a mechanical master had faint signs of collapse.
Barnacle was being pushed faster and faster. Even breaking the trees at his back couldn’t stop the momentum. Barnacle clenched his teeth and persisted as he knew that persisting in defending was the only way. Once his defense collapsed, his body would collapse too!
This enemy who has yet to reach the peak of Higher Demon actually has such a terrifying talents and skills!
The trail of footprints on the ground continued for more than a hundred meters and the destruction along the way continued. However, it finally stopped. The dazzling white light gradually faded until it disappeared without a trace.
It’s Chen Rui’s pupils that contracted this time!
Barnacle actually defended the <Aurora Shot> after the surfy sea training. He didn’t deflect it, but he held himself together with absolute defense!
Among all the opponents within the same rank that Chen Rui met, Barnacle was the first to completely defended the <Aurora Shot>! Barnacle looked very strained and the leather armor was deformed due to the close-ranged pressure. The wound on his shoulder was ruptured and bled again. Also, there were countless lacerations on his hands and body. However, his eyes were emitting a vicious light.
“I didn’t expect to encounter such a degree of attack. I have to praise you for that. Your actual level should be a little distance from the peak. However, your combat power is definitely not under Paulo and Larks, and you might even be better than them! The battle with me just now should also give you a lot of realizations. If you can survive today and comprehend the feelings with meditation, it won’t be long before you can be promoted to the peak of Higher Demon.”
As Barnacle spoke, he tore off the torn leather armor without looking at the bleeding wound on his shoulder. He was just carrying his scythe and slowly came over, “Unfortunately, you don’t have that opportunity. Even if your combat power is comparable to Paulo or Larks, so what about it? Even when Paulo and Larks cooperated, they were still defeated by me. So, you have absolutely no chance of winning!”
<Aurora Shot> caused Chen Rui to consume a significant amount of Star Power. However, he wasn’t affected by Barnacle’s words. Instead, he gathered his Star Power and prepared to launch another attack.
“What you drank earlier should be white potions like Strength Potion. In other words, in a few minutes, you will enter a phase of weakening?” Barnacle stopped and held his scythe firmly. “Yet, I won’t attack you at that time. I will destroy the strongest state that you thought you were and that overconfidence of yours now!”
While speaking, Barnacle’s scythe started to spin. Chen Rui felt a little blurry in his vision then Barnacle had already divided into 2 when he concentrated his mind!
When Barnacle fought with Paulo and Larks, Chen Rui was secretly peeping everything from the side. Paulo was killed by this skill. This skill was definitely not the same as Jesse’s <Afterimage>, but were actual bodies! Both of them were!
In his <Analytical Eyes>, both Barnacle were displayed as: Great Demon; Comprehensive Strength Analysis: D!
Chen Rui’s <Aura Blade> only had around 2 minutes left and his <Aurora Shot> had only 1 left. Besides, he couldn’t use it recklessly because if he attacked directly, Barnacle’s defense was too strong that Chen Rui’s attack couldn’t be lethal. If he used up all his Star Power, then he’d just die.
The two Barnacles were blazing in flames and attacked with full force simultaneously.
As soon as they collided, Chen Rui clearly felt strenuous, and he got hit a few times. If he didn’t dodge quickly, it might even be life-threatening. Each Barnacle was about 70% of the original body’s strength, but when both of them added up was already 140%! For Chen Rui, who was already weaker than Barnacle, the danger was at least doubled. He thought about it and “Dark Will” had appeared on his ring finger.
At that second of distraction, his lower ribs received a heavy kick from Barnacle. He could clearly hear the sound of bone fracturing. While he was staggering backward, he was hit again from the back.
One of the Barnacles appeared in front of him instantly and his scythe swiped toward his throat at lightning speed. Chen Rui quickly dodged to the side and distant himself for several meters. Right when he landed, a strong sense of crisis appeared in his heart and his muscles keenly felt a weak vibration from behind.
A scene of Barnacle attacking Paulo appeared in Chen Rui’s mind. Thus, he knew that the other body had already teleported to his back to launch a fatal blow.
At that instant, several thoughts came to his mind. Subsequently, his eyes were full of light and he forcefully stopped the urge to activate “Dark Will”. The brave wins! I’ll bet on this!
Chen Rui turned his body immediately. The blade that would’ve pierced his heart penetrated into his right chest instead. However, it was shallower than expected as he deliberately contracted his muscles with his mind, so it couldn’t penetrate. Yet, after all, it still caused huge damage.
Barnacle was a little surprised. When he was about to pull out the scythe, he saw a strange smile on the face of Chen Rui, who was severely injured. Chen Rui quickly grasped the scythe’s pole with one of his hands and the other glowing hand slicing downward.
Barnacle’s face changed suddenly because Chen Rui’s blade wasn’t aiming on him nor the pole of the scythe. Instead, it was the skull gem at the end of the scythe!
At this time, the other Barnacle was unable to use teleportation anymore, and he even threw over the scythe in his hand. Chen Rui didn’t hesitate to use <Aura Blade> and struck again with all his force. After the loud noise, the skull gem that was rather sturdy was broken into two.
The thing that Chen Rui broke was the gem at the end of the scythe that penetrated his body. Yet, the skull gem at the end of the scythe flying toward him was also broken at the same time.
That scythe didn’t lose its momentum; its blade cut deeply into Chen Rui’s left shoulder. If the gem wasn’t destroyed, which caused great reduction of damage, that attack would’ve chopped off his left arm.
Screams were echoing not only from the two Barnacles but also the two broken skull gem on the two scythes!