Arlo found himself grappling with the pain of his wounds, inflicted by the talons of the Agnes Divines.
He quickly realized that defeating them wouldn't be as straightforward as before, given that their numbers had swelled to ten.
One of them lunged at him; he narrowly evaded the attack. Another swooped in from behind, its wing generating a gust of wind that cut into Arlo's back.
Despite the searing pain in his gut and back, Arlo remained composed.
Arlo was the kind of fighter who wielded brute strength against weaker foes and relied on cunning against stronger adversaries. Now, he was meticulously searching for their vulnerabilities.
The Agnes Divines continued their relentless assault, their wings slicing through the air towards Arlo, their bodies lunging at him in an attempt to tear him apart. Their coordinated attacks were a stark contrast to the Stone Lions' more predictable patterns.
As Arlo deftly dodged and leapt, he could feel his life force ebbing away with each drop of blood he lost. Minutes turned into an eternity as he searched for a pattern to exploit, a weakness he could use to his advantage, much like he had done with the Stone Lions in previous dungeons of varying difficulty.
In the heat of the battle, Arlo found himself backed into an invisible barrier at the edge of the cloud.
Cornered, he watched as more than half of them unfurled their wings, ready to strike.
"SWISH!" "SWISH!" "SWISH!" "SWISH!"
When the onslaught finally ceased, Arlo was drenched in his own blood, the once pristine cloud beneath him now stained a gruesome red.
Barely able to stand, he leaned against the invisible barrier, slowly extending his left hand in a defiant challenge.
Drawn to the scent of Arlo's blood, one of the Agnes Divines spread its wings and swiftly closed the gap.
[Defeated Common Class Agnes Divines.]
Arlo's sword found its mark, piercing the throat of an Agnes Divine as he coughed up blood. The sight of their fallen comrade spurred the others into a frenzy, their wings slashing through the air once more.
"SWISH!"
Arlo used the lifeless body of the Agnes as a shield. As soon as their barrage ceased, he hurled his sword, embedding it in the head of another Agnes.
Discarding the body, Arlo charged at another Agnes. Their formation disrupted, their attack sequence fell into disarray.
Retrieving his sword from the skull of the slain Agnes, Arlo used the body as a projectile, hurling it at another Agnes.
As the body collided with another Agnes, Arlo plunged his sword through the dead Agnes and into another.
"SCCRRRHHH..."
As it cried out in agony, Arlo released his grip on his sword, seizing its throat and snapping it.
[Defeated Common Class Agnes Divines.]
Reclaiming his sword, Arlo noticed the remaining Agnes Divines appeared fearful and disoriented, exactly the reaction he had been aiming for.
After sustaining a slash to his back, Arlo noticed one or two of the creatures repeatedly attacking the same wounded spot. He quickly realized that they were drawn to blood, which seemed to agitate them and cause them to lose their composure.
[Defeated Common Class Agnes Divines.]
With their calm shattered, Arlo found himself moving more fluidly than before. However, the significant loss of blood was causing his consciousness to waver.
As the last two Agnes Divines lunged at him simultaneously, one leaped towards him. He blocked it with his sword, while another one sprang from behind.
Arlo swiftly kicked the Agnes in front of him and quickly turned to thrust his sword through the eyes of the other Agnes that had leaped from behind. Then, as the Agnes in front swung its claw, Arlo slashed his sword through its eyes and continued the motion to slice through the throat of another Agnes in front.
[Defeated 10 Common Class Agnes Divines]
[Exp Reward: 10]
[Current Level - 5 (59 Exp to Level 6)]
Unlike previous encounters with the Agnes Divines, where he hadn't received any Exp rewards and they had simply vanished, this time the entire cloud was littered with the bodies of the Agnes Divines and stained with red blood, which slowly dripped off the edge.
With his remaining strength dwindling, Arlo slowly approached the chest and opened it. He had no energy left to ponder why this cloud hadn't thinned.
Upon opening it, he found it empty, and was suddenly teleported to Haven.
[Welcome again to the Haven, a resting area for players.]
[Rebooting player's health and status.]
After healing and losing consciousness, Arlo eventually woke up. He sat upright and went through his inventory to check for any rewards.
Finding nothing, he shouted in shock, "Where did the reward go?" It seemed he had regained his senses after the grueling battle.
Suddenly, Arlo remembered the chest had been empty.
"Are you kidding me? I fought all that for nothing?" Exhausted, Arlo was in despair.
As he reviewed his player attributes, he noticed something and exclaimed, "Hell Yeah."
In the Skill Menu, which previously had three empty slots, now one of them was filled. He clicked on the slot, and a display prompted:
[Skill: Burning Soul of Agnes]
[Inscription: Agnes blessed all her children to live long, but everyone died tragically. Her soul still burns in agony for their children killed because of Agnes's blessing.]
[Precondition: only Agnes's Children can use this skill]
[Consume: Skill Points 15 per use]
A new prompt displayed over it:
[Condition requirement met]
[Wings of Life has Agnes's blessing]
[Burning Soul of Agnes unlocked]
[Passive Activation: All poisons, fire, diseases will be cured upon affecting Player; Player health will be restored upon injury]
[Active Activation: If Player falls under someone's psychic ability, it will burn the person that sends their psychic skill.]
After some rest at Haven, Arlo completely healed; all the claw marks disappeared, and even his clothing returned to its normal state as before.
The black ring mark on his chest seemed to soothe him after the battle; it felt like someone was blowing a soft wind on his body.
Arlo slowly closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, forgetting all about the pain he had endured.
[End of Chapter]