Chapter 281 278: Oliver's difficulties (3)

Chapter 281 278: Oliver's difficulties (3)

Oliver felt anxious. Every moment the five devils continued their assault on the barrier was bringing him closer to peril.

He went over everything he knew and had, hoping to find a solution to his current predicament.

Desperation fuelled his creativity, and in that moment of urgency, a brilliant plan began to take shape in his mind.

The plan was quite simple.

If it worked, he would live to see another day.

If it failed, he would become the next meal of the devils.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that it would work.

But all the signs said if he hesitated now, then later he'd lack the time to act and would face certain death.

'I guess I've no choice but to gamble with my life.'

As this thought crossed Oliver's mind, without wasting another second, he rose to his feet from his seated position in the cave.

Using his proficient wizardry skills, he swiftly snuffed out the crackling fire.

As the only source of illumination went out, the once dimly lit cave was immediately submerged in an oppressive darkness.

Inside this shroud of black, Oliver was hidden from view, rendering him invisible to the prying eyes of the devils outside the cave.

This sudden change left the devils puzzled.

"What is he up to now?" the first devil murmured, his voice tinged with a mix of curiosity and caution.

"Why even bother speculating about his actions?" said the fourth Equus, Draconis, with an air of casual disdain. "Whatever ploy he might be conjuring, it's irrelevant. Once we breach this barrier, there will be no nooks or crannies for him to hide in. Nothing will save him from us. He'll be as vulnerable as a mouse in a snake's den."

"Draconis has a point. The amulet's store of sun rays is being rapidly consumed by our persistent attacks. Every strike brings us one step closer to our goal. It's just a matter of time now before its energy is completely exhausted. We should double our efforts and strike with even more force. Success is not far away." The second devil uttered with his glib tongue.

With success seemingly in reach, all the devils felt motivated and launched fiercer and more forceful attacks on the barrier, determined to bring it down once and for all.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, from the mouth of the cave, a figure bolted into the open with startling speed.

Every aspect of this individual, from his attire to his mannerisms, was an impeccable mirror of Oliver. It was a likeness so precise that even if Oliver's own kin and comrades were to catch a glimpse of this figure, they would without a doubt, assert it was Oliver himself.

The devils, believing this figure to be Oliver, were filled with a triumphant elation which became vividly clear to the naked eye as their expressions morphed into ones of jubilation.

Their quarry, whom they had been hounding with unyielding determination, appeared to be recklessly delivering himself into their clutches. Such a turn of events was beyond their wildest expectations.

Oliver suddenly coming out of the cave was unexpected, but the devils' reaction to his sudden appearance was swift and appeared almost instinctual.

Without missing a beat, they raised their bome stave with practiced ease and brandished it in a violent arc. The atmosphere grew thick with a malevolent energy. Out of thin air, a multitude of skeletal visages materialized, each more menacing than the last. They plummeted earthward with the force and intensity of falling meteors, each set on obliterating the fleeing figure.

Boom!n/-OVeLb1n

A ground-shaking explosion erupted after a moment as the skeletal visages detonated upon contact with the fleeing figure, sending clouds of dust and debris billowing into the air and enveloping the area in a thick, choking cloud of dust and rubble.

The explosion was ridiculously strong.

Even an intermediate-level bloodline user wouldn't come out of it unscathed.

The devils thought Oliver was done for.

Once the dust settled, they decided to collect his remains and return to their summoner to get the reward for completing the mission.

However, their eyes, on their donkey-like faces, widened beyond the size of boiled eggs, almost popping out of their sockets, and their jaws dropped in disbelief. A silhouette emerged from the clouds of dust. One look at it, and they could tell it was Oliver. He was alive, and even more shockingly, he was miraculously unharmed!

"How can this be?!" One of the devils exclaimed, his voice laced with shock and a hint of fear. They had combined their strengths, and their attacks were not something that could be easily shrugged off. So how did he, who was at the center of the explosion, do it?

The third devil was initially taken aback by this development like the others, but he quickly deduced that Oliver must be in possession of a formidable defensive artifact that shielded him from all their attacks and he quickly shared it with the others to bring rationale into the situation and keep them motivated about the assassination and focused on the mission.

"He must have relied on a cursed artifact."

The third devil came to such a conclusion because it was hard to believe that Oliver relied on his own strength to survive their combined attacks. After all, if he possessed the might to withstand their onslaught on his own strength, why was he fleeing rather than facing them head-on?

The logical conclusion was that his true strength wasn't noteworthy, but he had a prized defensive relic that could save him from being harmed by an attack that could severely injure or kill a level 4 bloodline user.

The third devil's words made sense to the other devils and they no longer felt afraid that Oliver had some magical technique up his sleeve with which he could burst their asses.

Their initial shock and fear could be seen dissipating, replaced by a determination to capture Oliver.

With renewed confidence, they immediately sprung into action, giving chase.