Chapter 223 - Distance (9)

Luke wanted to check how his allies were doing, but he couldn't turn his eyes away even for a second. Even while looking at the enemy, he couldn't see most of his moves. So, a single moment that he loses his focus will end up dead in the next. There was no doubt in his mind regarding that.

Soon enough, the horse-face dashed at Luke and he raised his guard when he saw him filling his lungs with air, but in the end, Luke didn't use Hoar and just dashed attacked him with a flurry of thrusts. The enemy spun his ax around and formed a shield that blocked Luke's attacks, while he could feel some weight behind them, the horse-face wasn't being pushed backward even a single millimeter. However, the moment his face began to change to an expression of boredom. Luke held his spear tightly and then used its effect with as much mana as possible he could pack in a single moment. The horse-face was caught off guard for a moment and he was finally pushed back, but Luke didn't end his attack there…

Luke began to use Stinger in a quick sequence while moving around the horse-face and before he could recover from the first strike. Thanks to that, he got cut many times in his arms and legs, but those were small wounds. Before Luke could continue, the enemy turned around and quickly grabbed his neck and raised his body. He finally could see the hatred in that guy's eyes… he challenged him to a duel, but he wasn't expecting anything but an easy victory.

"Why the glare? Weren't you afraid of the 'worms' and that was why you challenged me alone to a duel?" Luke asked while he felt the grip on his neck increasing. "Try to dodge this…"

Luke used the effect of the spear with all his mana while aiming at the enemy's heart. He didn't time to move his ax and block the strike, so the horse-face blocked with its elbow. The power of the attack sent Luke and the enemy flying in opposite directions. Luke began to cough since he had been almost strangled to death, but even while he was doing that, he got up and kept looking at the enemy. He saw the horse-face with its butt on the ground and a lot of blood coming from his elbow. His face was red with anger and his blood boiling only made more blood flow from the wound.

"What an annoying asshole…" Luke said.

"It is time, Luke," Shalia said. "You need to recover a little bit… he will attack with everything he has now."

"Not yet," Luke said.

The enemy still had some tricks up his sleeve… Luke could tell it, so revealing his own wasn't a good idea right now. The horse-face prepared to throw his ax again, but this time Luke didn't wait for it, he used Stinger with its max level to approach the enemy in a single instant and then pierce a bit of his wrist, but that didn't stop him. Weirdly enough, the horse-face threw the ax in the opposite direction Anyway, but the weapon soon returned and both of them dashed toward Luke..

"I guess that is one of his tricks…" Shalia said.

Luke used Stinger to the side to escape, but both the ax and the horse-face changed direction to get him. That was definitely some sort of skill… one that made the target be hit no matter what. However, it must have some sort of limitation, even if the horse-face could make his weapon fly for dozens of kilometers, it would lose power over time. Even more so after doing curves. Regardless, Luke couldn't dodge the horse-face…

After biting his lips, Luke accepted the unavoidable and then charged at the enemy. He tried to pierce his throat again and then use the enemy's body as a shield against the ax, but the asshole used both arms to stop and grab Luke's spear… that had been a mistake, though.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH"!" Luke used Hoar.

The horse-face imagined that such an attack would come, and even though some blood left its ears, he wasn't paralyzed. Moreover, he moved Luke's spear and made him enter the direct line of hit of the ax. Luke pointed his right hand toward the weapon as if he wanted to grab it and then used Stinger with his left alongside Heavy Strike. The horse-face laughed at that pathetic effort… it was clear as the sky that he wouldn't achieve anything by doing both and yet, he realized that Luke was planning something since he didn't wave and his hands began to hurt and spill blood.

Luke felt the bones of his right arm cracking when the ax hit his right glove. After that was destroyed, it was time for Luke's bracers to block it for a few milliseconds, but in the end, it was destroyed and well and Luke's right arm began to be destroyed. He ended up losing that, but after those sacrifices, the ax stopped when it hit Luke's armor. 

In the next moment, the horse-face felt a shiver. Luke was about to do something, but he had no idea what he could do with a single arm. In the next moment, Luke's spear broke, but the enemy still was feeling that something was off, he tried to grab his ax and assume a defensive stance, but then a fire spear coming from the sky came and enveloped him. Luke almost got hit by it, but the power of the flames were so intense that he couldn't even look at it. Not to mention, the horse-face couldn't even scream while his flesh was melting...

Despite that, when the effect of Weapon Augmentation ended, the enemy still was alive even after falling on his knees. Luke did the same since the tension dissipated a little and he finally was feeling the pain of losing an arm like that…