He glanced at the small door, hoping that Gilbert and Samantha had already used the time to exit out from this warehouse compound. To his dismay, they were still behind the mace. It vibrated with a transparent light that created a layer of force field that prevented the two from reaching the door.
'What kind of skill is that? Is the Priest a melee fighter or a magic-user?!' Jack screamed in frustration in his mind.
"He is a melee fighter, most likely something of a hybrid between an inquisitor and monk class," Peniel voice came to explain. "That force field thing is most likely the mace's weapon skill."
Jack wasn't really asking for an explanation, he was just expressing his frustration. He asked Peniel, 'do you have any idea for us to get out of this situation?'
"Nope," she answered flatly.
Jack was about to curse how useless she was in his mind, but managed to stop it before he formed the words. He just remembered that the Fairy heard everything he uttered in his mind.
Left with no choice, he decided to just fight with everything he had in order to buy time. He just hoped that the force field from the mace had a time limit. He aimed his staff and sent standard range attacks at the Priest. The priest dodged all of them with ease as he leisurely walked towards him.
Jack knew the Priest's speed was very fast, he only had one chance when his opponent still underestimated him. He focused all his attention on the Priest's movements as he continued to send range attacks towards him.
When his Mana Bullet came off cooldown, he cast it. The Bullet again passed the Priest's body as he vanished from his place again. This is it! Jack thought. He didn't know if the Priest would come to him from the left or right, but he was pretty certain the Priest wouldn't waste time to circle to his back. The Priest wouldn't consider it necessary against such an easy opponent. Hence Jack jumped back at once the moment he noticed the Priest's sudden disappearance.
As he jumped back, a shadow swiftly swept by from his left. The Priest's fist was swung at a low altitude, he was repeating his attacks from before. Jack didn't have time to scoff at his opponent's lack of creativity, he kicked the ground to launch himself back forward.
The Priest's expression showed surprise when he realized his prey had escaped his attack, but he wore back his mocking grin when he saw the prey coming back towards him. Like a moth to a lamp, he thought. He saw the prey swung his sword towards him. He could have easily evaded the attack, but he chose to lift his hand up.
He was going to slap the sword away before sending another series of punches at his prey. But before the sword connected with his hand, it broke apart. He was confused by this turn of events. Did the sword's durability run out? But if so, it should break when it hit his hand, not before. Then he felt a surge of power from the sword as it emitted golden light at its center. It was too late for him to dodge anymore. When the sword slammed onto his hand, he felt hot pain burned from his hand to his entire body.
Jack's Overlimit skill managed to break through the Priest's iron-like defense. It cut a gash on the Priest's arm as a line of blood spewed. Jack had combined the attack with his Power Strike skill. Though the slash only hit the arm, his opponent lost 196 damage.
The Priest was so shocked by the sudden increase of his opponent's power that he failed to dodge the second attack. The second attack was only a normal slash, but it still scored him 105 damage. Not planning to waste the opportunity, he followed with a third slash. But this time, the Priest had come back to his sense and no longer allowed Jack to attack him freely. Jack's third slash hit empty air as the Priest circled to his back.
Jack was aware his opponent was behind him but his speed was not fast enough to react, he was punched hard on his back. He stumbled forward and made a roundhouse slash, but it still hit nothing but air. The Priest fist then came and jabbed at his face. He swayed backward, trying hard to keep his balance as he executed Swing, hoping the large area skill with struck his opponent. But it still hit nothing.
Jack had cast Magic Shield but the Priest's punches came from unexpected angles. The Priest was starting to take him seriously after being injured twice. Jack's Overlimit skill was rendered useless if it could not make contact with his opponent.
Jack felt another hard punch on his chest as it sent him flying to where Gilbert and Samantha were. He fell to the ground, his HP was in a critical state now. He would not last another two punches. The force field was still there, they couldn't pass through.
He could see the mocking faces of the Acolytes watching from distance, and hear the relaxed footsteps from the Priest slowly approaching. He would lose his life and still failed to complete the mission, it was depressing.
Screw it! Jack cursed as he rose to his feet again. He was just going to lose 50% experience anyway, he would just try to deal as much damage as he could with the remaining health that he had. As he thought all hope was lost, he saw the Priest's eyes went wide and his expression turned grim.
Jack heard a screeching sound from his back, he turned and saw Gilbert enveloped in a blood-red aura, had his arm stretched out, and drilled through the force field of the mace. His hand was just an inch away from the mace's shaft.
"Are you insane?" The Priest yelled. "You know you don't have much life left, you will burn through it if you use that Life Burning Art again!"
"Better than let you slaughter us all here," Gilbert replied with a resolute face.
His hand grabbed onto the mace and the force field shattered. He pulled the mace out from the ground. The force tore the earth out and threw them all over the place. A large hole was left where the mace had been embedded before. Gilbert brandished the mace and rushed past Jack in a shape of a red glowing ball. The ball of energy slammed onto the Priest and exploded. The impact sent the Priest flying to the other side of the warehouse's outer yard.
Gilbert then swept his hand in a horizontal arc, it created a shockwave that pushed away all the Acolytes that were stunned by what they had just witnessed.
"Go!" Gilbert shouted to Jack and Samantha.
Jack didn't waste any time, he went to Samantha and carried her while he ran to the fence's small door. When he opened the door, he glanced to the side and saw Gilbert threw the mace towards the Priest who was just getting back up on his feet. The Priest tried to use both hands to catch his weapon, but instead, he was further pushed back by the force and slammed onto the faraway fence on the other side. Gilbert turned back and ran to them as Jack went out the door.
They came onto the street which Jack had come before. Jack was just about to run towards the direction of the Business district, but Gilbert called to him, "no, this way!"
Jack stopped and turned to where Gilbert was heading, the old man was still being enveloped by the same red aura. He looked completely different. Before, he was like an exhausted man who was having trouble with his age, now he seemed to be as fit as a tiger. As they ran away from the warehouse, he saw on his radar the red dots were coming after them. He glanced back and saw the Acolytes rushing out of the warehouse.
"This way!" Gilbert shouted.
Jack still carried Samantha so that they could run at full speed. He turned the corner where Gilbert had gone to. They made several weaves through the complex alleyways around the slum. Gilbert was very familiar with the layout of the slum, he kept on making turns to throw their pursuers off their scent.
There were even two occasions where they went through doors, passed through empty dwellings. Although the Cult had many members, they would have a hard time trying to find them. Throughout the run, Jack also ate the remaining Bread and Junk foods that he still kept from the Tutorial Period, to recover his critical health, just in case if those Cult members managed to find them during their escape.