While the chaos inside the Camelot Castle raged on, Emery was also facing a tense situation.
They were at least a mile away, but Emery would usually be able to use [Spatial Gate] to instantly transport himself back. However, he still had to face the witch who turned into a massive, quivering flesh monster. More importantly, Morgana was lying helpless on the ground.
Another matter to deal with was the man in robes, who was most definitely a Nephilim Magus.
"Please, look after Morgana!" Emery said, as he once again prepared himself to fight against the flesh monster in front of him.
He opened his palm, shadows nearby took the form of wispy mists before gathering together in front of him. Several sharp, crescent blades floated, ready to strike at any moment. The blades were bigger and sharper than before, making a loud whizzing noise as they moved.
[Enfeeble Blades]
He pointed at the flesh monster.
Swish! Swish!
Two of the blades moved in blinding speed until it was almost invisible, they stabbed deep into the monster. Black blood spurted from the wounds, before the monster's arm, shoulder and both legs fell off.
His shadow blades were sharp and powerful enough to slice even the monster's strong body.
The magus did not react, he simply watched as Emery fought with a wicked, cruel smile.
"Not yet! Do you think that is enough?"
He did not cast any spell, but the monster's broken limbs turned into black smoke, before entering back into the shambling monster and healing it to its previous form. The man did not even need to cast any spells at all, while Emery watched it happen with seething fury.
The process was quick and the shambling monster started to run and charge at Emery with its hands outstretched. There seemed to be no strategy to its attacks, as it merely kept trying to reach him and tore anything that was on its way.
Despite its strangely shaped body and size, it moved surprisingly quickly. Emery used [Blink] to reappear behind the creature and threw another blade, the strike managed to cut off its head. The head rolled away into the bushes and disappeared.
At first, Emery thought the attempt would bring a similar result as the undead killing. However, he was quickly proven wrong. Even without the head, the monster was still able to move, mists came out from the bushes letting it regenerate.
This new monster stretched the limits of 'undeath'. It must be the result from one of the high level reanimation spells that could only be cast by someone at the magus level.
Not only Emery had to fight a magus, he also had to worry about the monster in front of him and several more that were busy attacking Camelot Castle.
If they were a bit harder for him to deal with, the knights definitely would not stand a chance. Hence, Emery really had to finish this mysterious man as soon as possible, lest more people would die.
He snapped his fingers and black shadows shaped like root vines grew on the ground around the monster. The roots moved like snakes and restrained the monster from head to legs.
[Shadow Root Binding]
Although the roots were not enough to destroy the monster, they seemed to be able to hold it for some time.
But, the mysterious man raised his staff, its tip glowed with light, crumbling the roots into ash. The monster was once again released.
"No, no, no. Did you really think it was going to be that easy?" The man gave him a wicked smile.
Emery turned his attention towards the man, deciding to test his strength by throwing a few [Enfeeble Blades]. As he expected, the magus merely sidestepped out of the way and the blades disappeared with a swing on his staff.
"Impressive, indeed. You have an arsenal of powerful spells… For a low realm idiot, that is! Hahaha!"
He was put in an impasse. On one hand, the only way to end this was to defeat the mysterious man, but on the other hand, there was no way he could let the flesh monster roam free, or more innocent lives would be sacrificed.
As Emery was lost in his dilemma, the four sisters decided to cut in and say.
"Leave it to us, brother. Go and fight that man."
He sighed. During this battle, he was far too overprotective of his new pack. If his pack didn't take risks, there was no way for them to grow stronger.
Finally, he nodded in agreement, but before he left, he decided to use his other innate ability. He focused all his spirit force and shouted.
"Hoooooooowl!"
[Battle Howl]
Right as Emery howled to the sky, the four girls and he himself started feeling the burst of energy thrumming beneath their skin, right in their bones, as they received a massive boost in battle power.
He dashed forward, but he looked at the girls and warned. "You girls, be careful! Just focus on stalling for time!"
The mysterious magus made no attempt to avoid him. He even smiled with sadistic mirth at Emery's battle stance.
"Hahaha! This is hilarious! A mere rank 8 acolyte dares to fight a magus."
Emery did not respond to the taunt at all, as he glanced at his current stats through the faded symbol on his palm.
[Emery Ambrose]
[Battle Power: 145 (130)]
[Spirit Force: 652 (501)]
From all of the buff skill, Emery battle power has reached a whopping 145 points from his original 93. He obtained 32 points from the stage 5 [Immortal Gate], 10 points from the first stage fey transformation, and another 10 points when he reached the shaman form. The last 10 points came from the [Battle Howl]
All that, in addition to his dual spirit core, resulted in his current strength. From his study in the elite magus academy, he knew that 145 battle power were considered a high number even among the top rank 9 acolytes.
Moreover, his spirit force has gotten a large upgrade of 50 points after he reached stage 5 Dao Technique.
With all the upgrades, he could be considered on par to early or mid stage rank 9 acolytes.
There was also his new shaman form. The magical power boost and resistance will be his trump card to beat the Nephilim magus
Emery could feel both his nature and dark core were gleaming with power. With all that, he was ready for the fight.
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,