Chapter 21：Soul Grapple (1)

At the same time, Arnold walked into the apartment and wanted to give Nicole the gifts he bought for her. However, the place was covered in darkness, and there was not a single person inside.

Arnold was expressionless. Just when he was about to turn around to check the apartment, the lights lit up.

"Don't leave now. I have been waiting for a long time." An unknown voice echoed through the halls.

Arnold looked up at a camera in the corner and clenched his fists tightly.

"Where is Nicole?" He gritted his teeth.

"Don't worry she's still here. I couldn't leave without toying with you now can I?" The voice replied. A door opened, and a man walked out with his gaze clashing with Arnold. crumbled remains of his golems could be seen behind the man. "They were tough to deal with, but it was fun. Now show me what you got. Let's tango!"

The man's gaze was fixed at Arnold as he clenched his fists. A bluish flame began to flow down his arm as though it was a liquid. The next instant, a huge shockwave was sent out. The power of his first shot through the entire floor and a large hole appeared behind the wall where Arnold was standing. Arnold had activated [ RAPID FLASH ] just in time to dodge the man's attack.

Arnold took a moment to size up his foe, Standing 5' 10" tall, this red-brown skinned man had a burn mark on his right hand which was most likely caused by his own ability. He had a long face, a large nose, angled lips, and small hazel eyes. He had shoulder-length, fine, light brown hair which was un-styled and an impressive beard. He also had toned arms, a wide torso, a well-defined waist, short legs, and wide feet were all developed to be a warrior having no boundaries. Arnold pretty much guessed his abilities by his ragged appearance but he used his [PROBE] skill on him either way.

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NAME: Bob Marcel (Human)

LEVEL: 59

RANK: B

ROLE: Brawler

AFFINITY/ABILITIES :

•?????

•?????

•?????

HP : 4150/4150

Mana/Energy : 5000/5000

STRENGTH (STR) : 88

DEFENSE (DEF) : 75

STAMINA (STA) : 79

INTELLIGENCE (INT) : 35

AGILITY (AGI) : 68

ACCURACY (ACC) : 45

EVADE (EVD) : 47

CHARISMA (CHA): 58

THREAT LEVEL: High

REMARK: Try not to enter in a head-on confrontation with him or he'll snap your back in half like a twig. Maintain your distance and use ranged combat to overpower him.

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"Hey hey hey. You actually dodged it. Pretty good. Show me what-"

BAM!

While Bob was busy running his mouth, Arnold reactivated [ ELEMENTAL SUMMONING: FROST GOLEM ] thus the golems Bob had destroyed earlier got reformed. Duke took the initiative and punched Bob with so much force at he flew outside through the hole he made.

Arnold took out the [BLACK VINDICATOR] from his inventory and used [ENHANCEMENT] on it before jumping out of the hole after Bob. The enhancement gained wasn't permanent and his guns only gained 12% attack boost, but it was better than nothing.

"If you want to live, tell me where's Nicole?" Arnold shouted, but before Bob could reply he saw someone was trying to push Nicole inside a blue jeep. "Is that... Nikki?"

Bob stood between Arnold and Nicole. Arnold knew he wouldn't be able to reach her, so he did what he thought was for the best. He used the guns and shot Nikki's right leg and the rear tires of the car.

"SON OF A BI*CH!" Nikki cursed in pain and grabbed her right leg.

Bob wasn't prepared for Arnold's attack because according to the Intel, Arnold was supposed to be a summoner, not a damn gunslinger! Bob scanned his opponents. 4 golems. One carried a scythe while one wielded a sword¹, two of the remaining golems didn't have a weapon with them. Then there was their master, a gun-wielding summoner.

Bob's face fell. He knew very well that if he didn't close the gap between them, he'll be at a disadvantage.

But then again if Arnold wanted to get his sister back he had no choice but to close the distance between them.

"This is interesting..." Bob smacked his lips, "very interesting."

"Bob helps me out, please... I'm losing too much blood!" Nikki gritted her teeth in pain.

"SHUT UP BI*CH! Can't you see I'm trying to have fun here?" Bob snapped back. "Don't mind her. Let's carry on with our fight."

Arnold didn't utter a word but Duke and Marshal¹ charged at Bob, while Arnold used his elemental control abilities to control his surroundings, he then ordered the two remaining golems to go and retrieve Nicole from the jeep.

Bob saw through Arnold's plan and ignored Duke and Marshal, and charged at the two other golems. Arnold had already foreseen this outcome and was prepared. He raised a wall between Bob and the golems and started shooting at him. Every time a bullet successfully managed to hit Bob, a notification appeared.

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You've dealt 123(+15) points of damage to your target.

Damage inflicted after damage reduction due to the target's defence: 93.

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"Damn it! Why does he have such a high defence stat!" Arnold snarled but kept shooting bullets at his opponent.

Duke and Marshall weren't doing much better either. Bob was a man who excelled in close combat, hence the golems weren't much of a threat to him and managed to dodge most of their attacks while hitting them every once in a while. His main concern was the two golems who went to rescue the girl, but whenever he tried to go after them Arnold would start shooting at him and even though the bullets weren't enough to kill him, getting shot was still very painful and he couldn't use his energy shield at all times because it would take too much energy.

*****

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You've killed a human.

The first human killed :

EXP: +300

First rank D human killed :

EXP: +150

You've levelled up!

Current level: 36

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"When did I kill someone?" Arnold glanced over Bob's shoulder and saw Nikki's limp body lying there. Apparently, one of his bullets had bounced over Bob's energy shield and managed to hit Nikki in the head, causing her death.

Arnold thought killing someone would affect him emotionally, but he felt quite calm and relieved. He was going to kill her either way. Those who dare to hurt his sister deserved to die. Arnold shook his head.

One of the golems had already picked Nicole in his arms and was running towards Arnold while the other golem guarded him. Seeing this Arnold used [ ELEMENTAL CONTROL: ICE ] as well as [ ELEMENTAL CONTROL: EARTH ] to trap Bob as well as Duke and Marshal inside a dome-like structure so that Bob won't be able to try and attack Nicole.

"Are you okay?" Arnold asked and checked his sister to see if she was injured.

Nicole was still in shock and couldn't reply, but she hugged her brother with tearful eyes and nodded.

"You're safe now... You're safe now..." Arnold mumbled and patted Nicole's head, "I'll just deal with the other guy and then we can-"

BANG!!!

"ENOUGH!" Bob shouted, at this moment beams of bright light shot out from his body, causing an energy explosion in a range of a few meters. "I KILL YOU!"

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NOTE :

1. The sword-wielding golem is the golem who helped Arnold to kill the centaur and took the centaur's sword after Arnold defeated him. Arnold named him Marshal.