CH205
"David, come with me. Don't rush to attack; our goal is to stall him," Helag instructed.
David nodded, "Understood."
With a wave of his hand, Helag cast Absolute Defense on himself, followed by various enhancement spells, transforming into his black-armored giant form.
Prepared, Helag leaped forward, confronting Cole.
Seeing Helag, Cole put away his crystal ball. The black-armored giant before him posed a threat.
Though Helag's magical aura was at a beginner spellcaster level, his power was overwhelming.
Cole, a formidable great knight, had never abandoned his pursuit of physical strength.
He sensed the immense power within Helag, realizing a direct confrontation would be disadvantageous.
"Why is someone like this in the Lim Mountains…" Cole pondered, linking the missing persons to a more complex situation.
His teacher's assumption of a relic might be wrong; instead, there were deeper secrets.
The black-armored giant, with formidable combat power, stood where energy particles were most concentrated.
As Cole neared, the giant emerged, clearly intending to block his path.
This indicated significant secrets lay where the energy particles were densest.
To warrant such a powerful guardian, even greater forces must be at play.
Cole quickly connected the dots upon seeing Helag.
"Who are you?" Cole asked.
Despite realizing the Lim Mountains were more dangerous than anticipated, Cole didn't plan to leave immediately.
Without information, it was better to probe further.
He believed if he wanted to leave, they couldn't stop him.
Helag's deep voice rumbled, "Leave. This is not a place for you."
Feigning indifference, Helag urged Cole to depart, which only confirmed Cole's suspicion of hidden secrets.
Cole reasoned, "If they're urging me to leave, they must fear my strength, unsure of capturing me, hence trying to deter me."
"What are you doing here? Where did the missing people go?" Cole continued.
He suspected the missing individuals had met grim fates.
The black-armored giant's combat prowess was too great for ordinary adventurers.
At this moment, David emerged from the side, observing Cole.
"Another beginner spellcaster."
Seeing David, Cole's heart sank.
Two beginner spellcasters suggested deeper secrets within the Lim Mountains.
Cole studied them silently for a moment.
After a few seconds, he drew his sword, readying himself, holding it horizontally before him, whispering, "Breath of Wind."
A fierce wind gathered around Cole.
Then, he turned and ran.
Helag remarked, "Quick reflexes."
He pursued immediately, faster than Cole with his spell enhancement.
Cole's decision to flee was wise.
He realized there was no relic, only hidden secrets.
The two beginner spellcasters seemed mere patrol guards.
If the guards were this strong, those inside must be stronger.
Confident in his abilities, Cole wasn't arrogant.
He knew his strength couldn't solve this problem.
His teacher was wrong.
He was wrong.
The secrets here were likely astonishing.
As he fled, Cole pondered these issues.
Hearing wind behind him, Cole glanced back to see the black-armored giant closing in.
He was nearly caught.
Cole cursed, "How is he so fast?"
He hadn't expected anyone to match his speed, even with Breath of Wind.
Helag reached forward, aiming to grab Cole's neck.
Sensing movement behind him, Cole quickly chanted a few syllables.
Suddenly, a gust lifted him ten meters into the air.
Helag's grasp missed, watching Cole float down like a feather.
Cole took a deep breath, realizing constant running wouldn't work; Helag was too fast.
He needed to fight while retreating, to escape quickly.
He understood Helag wouldn't let him leave.
The initial offer to leave was a delaying tactic.
What were they stalling for?
Stronger reinforcements, who could certainly capture him.
Their goal from the start was to trap him in the Lim Mountains.
"Of course, with so many adventurers missing, they wouldn't let me leave easily," Cole thought.
Unable to leave easily, he had to fight.
As Cole landed, Helag charged, swinging a powerful punch, stirring the air.
Cole hadn't anticipated Helag's immense strength, realizing he'd underestimated him.
"Wind Barrier!"
A wind wall formed before Cole.
Helag's punch struck, spiderweb cracks spreading across the barrier.
The barrier shattered, but Cole evaded the blow.
"Earth Spike!"
David, waiting on the side, seized the moment, creating an earth spike beneath Cole.
Cole reacted swiftly, nimbly shifting his footing to avoid the spike.
He quickly assessed Helag and David, determining David was weaker, planning to eliminate him first before focusing on Helag.
His sword began to glow, wind gathering along the blade.
Cole crouched, then shot forward, targeting David.
His sword, enveloped in wind, spun like a saw.
This was Cole's self-developed spell, combining knightly breathing techniques for combat.
In a blink, he was before David, slashing swiftly.
CH206
David's heart tightened; he hadn't expected Cole to burst with such speed.
At Cole's current speed, dodging the sword seemed unlikely.
In haste, there was no time to conjure a defensive spell.
David's innate spell, Rock Layer, couldn't withstand Cole's strike.
In a flash, Helag appeared behind Cole.
Using a teleportation spell, Helag swiftly closed in on Cole.
He reacted quickly, able to stop Cole sooner, but waited for the right moment—when Cole struck.
As Cole swung, it was the perfect time to act.
At that moment, Cole's focus was entirely on David, making it difficult to retract his sword.
Everything happened in an instant; Helag had to seize the fleeting opportunity.
Otherwise, David would die, and Helag would lose his chance to strike.
Appearing behind Cole, Helag delivered a powerful punch to his back.
Cole sensed Helag's sudden presence, startled but unable to stop his attack, opting to speed up the strike and endure Helag's blow.
Helag's punch was faster than Cole's sword, its force slamming into Cole's back.
Though a wind shield covered Cole, it shattered on impact.
Crack.
The sound of breaking ribs echoed as Cole spat blood.
His sword's trajectory shifted, initially meant to cleave David in two.
Now, it veered, striking David's left shoulder.
David's innate spell triggered, forming a thick rock layer on his skin.
However, the layer only slowed the sword, soon pierced, cutting into flesh.
David grunted, his left shoulder nearly severed, held by a strip of flesh.
Despite the severe injury, David remained silent, clutching his shoulder and retreating.
Cole, like a cannonball, was sent flying by Helag's punch.
Even airborne, Cole concentrated, casting spells.
Using wind as a cushion, he slowed his flight, landing smoothly.
Upon landing, he spat more blood.
Helag's punch was powerful, taken almost directly.
Despite maintaining knightly training and strong physique, Cole couldn't withstand such force.
Using his sword for support, Cole quickly drank a green potion.
Green specks appeared on his skin, rapidly healing internal injuries.
An elven secret potion, incredibly rare, almost reviving the dead.
In moments, Cole's broken ribs healed.
The potion was remarkably effective.
David, using a healing potion, stopped his bleeding temporarily.
But his left shoulder was misaligned, greatly reducing combat ability.
Helag glanced at him, saying, "Fall back. I'll handle him. Don't cause trouble."
David was of little help now; if fighting resumed, Helag couldn't watch over him.
Nodding, David retreated to heal.
Cole sheathed his sword, drawing a wooden longbow.
The large bow, entirely wooden with a green string, appeared plain, lacking decoration.
"Breath of Wind."
Cole increased his speed, drawing the bow, a green arrow forming quickly.
He fired at Helag.
Helag prepared to dodge, but the arrow vanished.
Arrows typically vanished due to speed.
Yet, with Helag's physique, seeing arrows should be easy.
Deep Blue, his AI, should also track the arrow's path.
But the arrow simply disappeared.
Boom!
An explosion sounded before Helag, pushing him back.
"It suddenly appeared right in front?"
Helag realized the arrow indeed vanished.
The green arrow, upon firing, reappeared before him.
Thus, neither he nor Deep Blue saw its flight path.
"Deep Blue, calculate the arrow's attack strength."
Helag sensed the arrow's power was high; without Absolute Defense and Dark Armor, he'd be severely injured.
[Estimated arrow strength: 19 units]
Deep Blue quickly provided the result.
"What kind of bow is this? A casual shot with such power," Helag wondered.
The bow seemed ordinary, lacking any special aura.
Yet, a casual shot had 19-units strength, surpassing many spells.
Seeing the arrow ineffective, Cole turned to flee.
Helag pursued, Cole firing another arrow.
The arrow was unavoidable, appearing directly before Helag, a guaranteed hit.
Again, Helag was pushed back, Cole using the chance to widen the gap.
"Let's see how many times you can shoot."
Power and cost are balanced; such powerful arrows can't be shot without cost.
Cole couldn't use the bow indefinitely; there must be a price.
Indeed, after two shots, blood trickled from Cole's mouth.
Holding the bow, he ceased firing.
By now, Cole had distanced himself from Helag.
Helag, seeing Cole escaping, discreetly activated a trace of royal elven bloodline power.
Since arriving in the elven plane, Helag sensed the usable royal elven bloodline power in his bloodline mark.
Previously, at Base 27, he hadn't encountered special circumstances to try it.
Activating some bloodline power, Helag felt a noticeable increase in mental strength, power, agility, and constitution.
The slight agility boost significantly increased Helag's speed.
Soon, Helag caught up with the fleeing Cole.
"Dark Orb."
Helag conjured a black orb, launching it at Cole's head.
Cole dodged, but the orb's explosion hindered his movement.