"Hruk!" Regriel grunted when something slammed into him, sending him reeling through the forest, mowing down the trees without stopping for a good hundred metres.
If not for his Minor Healing working on healing him at tremendous speeds while in his Overdrive state, he would have died from the impact. Quickly getting up, Regriel frowned, gazing at the Bandit Boss that had sent him flying, 'This guy is a Transcendent too. And judging by his strength, he's a lot stronger than Rikune. His ability is trickier too."
Rikune's ability, though effective, wasn't the best a Warrior Transcendent could obtain. Moreover, it was only using a Warrior's ability.
As for the Bandit Boss, Regriel failed to understand how, but he had fused both the abilities of a Warrior and a Puppeteer into one, allowing him to output with greater power. This made him an opponent many times scarier than Rikune.
Rather, Regriel felt as if he was facing against five Rikune. Even one Rikune was hard for him to fight and overpower, even in his Overdrive state. Rather, the only way he would be able to win against Rikune was to overwhelm her through sheer power while using his Minor Healing to constantly regenerate from his injuries.
"I'll do exactly that to my opponent. No matter how strong he is, he cannot heal himself like me." Thinking as such, Regriel caused the barrier surrounding him to expand towards the ground instantly, using the force applied to shoot towards the Bandit Boss.
In response, the Bandit Boss calmly summoned a rod whose tip was like a pike's. And, it began to quickly rotate, turning into a power drill. The moment he saw it, Regriel understood that it would be able to penetrate through his barrier easily, grunting as he expanded his barrier.
"Heup!" The Bandit Boss shouted as he thrust forth his energy blade, coming into contact with the barrier as his eyes widened in shock, 'Just how much Darlac has he infused into his barrier? But, he's simply wasting such a massive amount when all he needs is to create a barrier at the point of contact. Instead, he's applying the same amount of Darlac throughout the barrier.'
Grunting, the Bandit Boss thrust his energy blade forth, piercing through the barrier when the barrier shattered. And from Regriel came another barrier, slamming into the tip of his energy blade.
The resultant clash caused both the energy blades to stop at the point of contact. And in response due to the force exertion, both the users were sent flying backward.
The Bandit Boss crashed into the walls of the cave behind him, coughing out a mouthful of blood.
"Bastard! Die!" Right at this time, a group of bandits charged at Regriel, attacking him with their energy blades, activated using their Armaments.
'Just who are these bandits? The quality of their Armaments surpasses what Artica has.' Frowning, Regriel expanded the barrier in their direction, sending them flying away while blood spewed out along the way.
One of the Bandits had been hit in the head so hard he died while in the air. Suddenly, a bandit acted as if his flying body was in the way, activating his Armament to condense an energy blade, using the force of its expansion to send the bandit's corpse hurling deep into the forest, spouting, "Dead weights shouldn't hinder our way."
"You monster, he was your comrade." Regriel shouted, his eyes spewing bloodlust, "How can you treat him that way?"
"Hello?" The bandit shouted as he at looked at him as if he were an idiot, "It was you who killed him, remember? And besides, this wouldn't have happened if you didn't come here in the first place. For what reason did you come here? It's not like we have taken anything of yours."
"So, aren't you the monster here?"
"W-Wha…the heck are you saying?" Regriel stammered, for a moment failing to offer a logical reply when he was sent flying. The barrier surrounding him shattered into fragments while he flew towards a large boulder.
Regriel instinctively condensed another barrier around himself, slamming into the boulder, cracking it upon impact, spitting out blood in the process.
Minor Healing—Level 2!
Thanks to his state of Overdrive, his instincts had become sharp. That's how he was able to activate his barrier on time.
"Wait…I already obtained talent as a Puppeteer…" He suddenly remembered, getting up with a start, "And now that I have the power as a Transcendent…"
Thinking as such, he instinctively waved his hand, condensing five humanoid puppets, each possessing a body similar to the energy blades. They quickly ran, attacking the bandits from a direction each. And, their mode of attacks was the same as him, condensing the barrier and expanding it in the direction of the foes, sending them flying from the impact.
Moreover, since their bodies were just the energy blades, they didn't have to worry about any damage or injury, able to unleash attacks nonstop even if they too were sent flying as a result. They simply got up after that to resume attacking.
Regriel and two humanoid puppets tag teamed, attacking the Bandit Boss. With three of them attacking him simultaneously, the pressure he faced intensified.
'Right from the start, he's only using his right hand. As for his left, it is holding the Warble securely. And, the pretty lady has also been holding his left hand all along. Rather, when he was sent flying, he actually dropped the Warble in her hands. It seems that despite being paralysed by poison, she has enough means to safeguard the Warble.' Regriel quickly analysed, surprised at his thinking prowess.
He had never known to possess such a sharp thought process, 'Did the Skill of Overdrive also enhance my thinking abilities? Sweet!'
Suddenly, the mechanical voice of the Slave Harem System resounded in his head, "Ten seconds remaining."
'Dammit!' Right at this time, the Bandit Boss suddenly condensed a second energy blade, thrusting right at him, causing him to defend with all his might, regretting immediately, 'No, I should have taken damage after negating enough of his attack power!'
After all, his action meant the two energy blades collided into one another without breaking, causing the forces behind each to send the two causes flying accordingly. The Bandit Boss stopped after slamming into the wall behind him, puking blood as he seemed to have hit his head, on the verge of death.
But Regriel, in response, had been sent flying into the air to a great distance, 'No! The time would run out before I reach the ground!'
[Mental Energy: 109]
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Author's note: December month's mass release quota:
Golden Ticket: 1 bonus chappie for every 12 GT
Magic Castle: 2 extra bonus chappies for every Magic Castle
Spacecraft: 5 extra bonus chappies for every Spacecraft
Read 8 chappies in advance in Privilege
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