“BASTARD NORSEMAN PAGAN SCUM, WHERE ARE YOU!” Osarseph screamed in unbridled fury in recognition. He remembered the strange laughter vividly.
“Tee” SLASH
“He” SLASH
“HAHA!” THUNK
Moving like a phantom, Cynrik used Ragnar’s weird way of laughing as a taunt, covered the distance between himself and Osarseph, and delivered two heavy strikes on both his calves. After the second strike, an arrow fired by Gabby found its mark, the scuff mark on Osarsephs right calf.
Even though the two slashes only did a minimal amount of damage and created a flashy shower of sparks, the critical part was that they had weakened the durability of the scales to some extent and even left a faint mark. Using this mark as a bullseye, Gabby fired off a Mana-infused arrow the instant Cynrik finished his second attack. Thanks to Cynrik’s attack, her arrow was able to pierce through Osarseph’s right calf and come out the other side of his leg, leaving the head sticking out the inside of his leg and the tail the outside.
Furious by the cowardly attacks and by his own inability to block them, Osarseph howled in both pain and anger before bending down and ripping the arrow out of his leg. As this happened, Cynrik had already arrived back on the rooftop beside Gabby and was watching as the lizardman’s leg quickly healed up within a couple of seconds. The only difference was the lack of scales.
Cynrik’s sudden attack and subsequent use of Ragnar’s trademarked laugh weren’t brought about due to his own initiative. Instead, when the Gravity Field broke apart, and Osarseph was released from the egg-shaped barrier, Cynrik was bombarded by several notifications from Tobs, as well as a strange sense of Déjà vu upon seeing the being for the first time.
-Unknown parameters have been achieved, Ragnar Lodbrok Memory Fragment (1/5) Locked, acquired.-
-The Spirit of Ragnar Lodbrok, which has been integrated into the Host’s soul, is unsettled by the sight of Osarseph and has given you a unique quest.-
-Unique Quest, Taunting the Former Egyptian High Priest.-
-During the previous Legacy Strife, Ragnar and his army, under the orders of Odin, battled against the forces of Osarseph. After a lengthy war and heavy losses on both sides, Ragnar pinned down Osarseph and his followers before dealing the final blow. As the Goddess Wadjet has already informed Osarseph of your origins as Odin’s Charge, he will be exclusively trying to kill you as a means for revenge against Ragnar.-
-One thing Ragnar was able to figure out early in their battle was that the more he taunted his opponent, especially with his signature laugh of “Teehe Haha,” the more enraged Osarseph would become. In his rage, the being could not respond appropriately to the advanced war tactics required for victory.-
-Task: During the battle, use Ragnar’s peculiar form of taunt to disturb your enemy a total of 10 times.-
-Reward: Unlock Ragnar Lodbrok Memory Fragment 1/5-
-Don’t worry, Host, you won’t seem…entirely crazy.-
Reading through the notifications, Cynrik wanted to spit blood. Especially when he saw Tobs’ words of “encouragement” at the end. A shiver fought its way through his body as Cynrik realized he still had some unresolved trauma from hearing that sadistic laugh; even thinking about it made his fingers twitch slightly.
Just as he finished reading through everything, his attention was grabbed by Brance and Benny moving into action, so he tapped on Gabby’s shoulder lightly twice, informing her to get ready to shoot, and waited for Osarseph to drop the Totems. His prediction was correct as not even a minute later, the Shaman created five distinct constructs, and on Cynrik’s signal, all five were destroyed just as swiftly as they had come into existence.
Knowing their cover had been blown, Cynrik quickly scooped up Gabby and flitted from roof to roof, landing several buildings away but still within range of their opponent.
The two watched as the battle between Benny, Brance, and Osarseph progressed. Finally, when the boss summoned his Golems forth, Cynrik turned to Gabby and spouted a couple of orders before jumping to a different rooftop.
Hiding in the shadows of an alley between two huts, Cynrik stalked forward and waited for the Golems to form ultimately. Even though his idea slightly went against his plan of not letting the boss power-up, he, for some reason, wanted to not only defeat Osarseph but also break his will in the process. So, exhaling slowly and calculating the distance between himself and the four still forming Earth Golems, Cynrik started channeling his Mana into four distinct balls of [BlackFire]. However, he didn’t stop there; using his previous experience during the steam cloud event, he calmed his mind and remembered what it felt like to use his Húðflúr. His last use had been unintentional and fueled by rage, but he could still remember the odd sensation he felt during that time.
‘Tobs said I shouldn’t be able to use them yet, but I was still able to. That means there will probably be some kind of key to activating them, and as I kind of just brute-forced my way in last time, it may be harder to use them now.’
Holding up his hands in front of his face, Cynrik examined the faint off-colored patterns weaving their way around the entirety of the backside of his hand. Then, slowly, he curled his fingers in towards his palm and formed a fist before tightly clenching it. As he did so, the four balls of fire hovering just above Cynrik’s body rippled as if a gust had been blown on them from nowhere.
‘The Húðflúr allows me to Manipulate and form Mana as I see fit, by that theory, so long as it came from my own Codex, I shouldn’t have any issues using a low stage Húðflúr to reshape my attacks.’
Thinking through the process, Cynrik turned his left fist on its side and slightly lowered his right. Then, exhaling slowly and allowing his Mana to freely coarse through his body, Cynrik raised his left elbow up towards his cheek while turning his hips, taking a basic Archer stance.
‘So if I will it to be, it shall.’
With that final thought, Cynrik extended his index and middle fingers simultaneously, forming a cross shape, with the second knuckles from his left hand resting just under the ones on his right index finger. Upon his fingers making contact, Cynrik’s Húðflúr lit up. If it weren’t for his [Cloak of Shadows] being active, all eyes would have turned to face Cynrik in the alley he was hiding, as right now, he was glowing like a beacon.
With narrowed eyes, Cynrik formed the shape of a fire arrow within his mind and was amazed to see the four fireballs above his head mold into exact replicas of what he envisioned. But Cynrik’s observations were cut short as the four golems had finished their formation and were standing imposingly waiting for the commands from their maker.
Grinning evilly, Cynrik drew back his arm as if he were holding a bow, causing a reaction from the newly formed [BlackFire] arrows. They shook slightly and moved backward, mimicking the movements Cynrik was making as he rested the backside of his wrist against his left brow.
“Heh,” Using [Mana Sight], Cynrik mumbled under his breath; he had located the weak point, the ball-shaped Core within the chest cavity of the golem. Then, Cynrik snapped his fingers on his left hand into a fist, releasing the tension on the flaming arrows launching them into the chests of each golem.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
Each arrow met its desired target, forcing its way through the rugged rock layers and into the chassis within the chest cavity that housed the Core. The attack shattered all four Golems’ Cores, forcing them to self-destruct, creating a powerful shock wave that sent Osarseph soaring.
This was the moment that Cynrik uttered the first laugh.
“Teehe, Haha!”
The instant it left his lips, Cynrik kicked off the ground and proceeded to move through the alleyway between buildings. However, since the system registered his attacks as four instead of a single one, his skill was automatically canceled, leaving him out in the open and forced to use the huts for cover.
Flanking around, Osarseph, who was struggling to get to his feet, Cynrik slid to a stop, cupped his hands around his mouth, and once again performed Ragnar’s taunt. This time, however, he got a reaction from his target.
“BASTARD NORSEMAN PAGAN SCUM, WHERE ARE YOU!”
The curses brought a faint smile to Cynrik’s lips as he recast [Cloak of Shadows] and went in for the attack.
After Cynrik’s spur-of-the-moment improv attack, Brance and Benny didn’t want to be left behind. Both of them could tell how well Cynrik’s strange manner of taunting was working on Osarseph, so they used that instant to rush forward and deal some damage themselves. Unfortunately, they ran upon an enraged bull…er…lizard.
Having been wholly tilted emotionally by Cynrik, Osarseph was having none of Brance and Benny’s little interference game, and he lashed out a violent strike with his Staff, only to have it bounced off Brance’s shield and deflected upward. Brance flowed forward and knelt down, allowing Benny to use his back as a step, to which Benny did just that; running forward, he jumped off Brance and slashed Osarseph across his chest, shredding the robes he was wearing but leaving the boss relatively unscathed.
[Seriously, Cyn, this short person shit is getting old fast.] Brance complained as he bounced back to his feet and started trading blows with Osarseph.
[No shit, I honestly am tired of having to jump around like a rabbit every time I fight, I just wanna be able to run forward and attack without having to calculate my angle of attack and trajectory every time. OI OI, WATCH OUT FOR THE TAIL]
BOOOM
Brance stood firm but was forcefully pushed back several steps because he blocked a head-on-tail strike.
[OOF, this fucker hits hard.] Shaking his head and wearing his regular battle junkie expression that he didn’t even know he did during combat, Brance quipped
[Hmmm, we should target the tail then…hey…Brance…do you thin…]
BOOM
[SHUT UP CYNRIK WE AREN’T GUNNA EAT HIS TAIL!] Brance could picture his brother wiping drool from his mouth as he stared at Osarseph’s tail, making him frown and slam both Shields into the muscular tail in front of him.
[LISSSSTTEEEENNN, Hearrr me out Brancie.]
[NO!]
-This series is exclusively published on WebNovel if you are reading it anywhere else…You Wrong Fam. PS Check out the Discord, https://discord.gg/dcxKNJEMwg
Current Power Stones 151
250 Power Stones 1 Bonus Chapter (incomplete)
500 Powerstones 2 Bonus Chapter (Incomplete)
750 Power Stones 3 Bonus Chapters (Incomplete)
1000 Power Stones 4 Bonus Chapters (Incomplete)