Chapter 162 - 157 : Who Says We Can’t Come Closer

*Boom*

With a loud boom, the ground shook a bit as the flames of the fireball burst apart due to the sheer force from the punch. The fireball wasn't huge in size but it had devastating might, one most likely capable of destroying a 3 metre boulder. Thanks to the special effects of both [Igneel's guidance] and Fudo's level 9 staff, in relation to Fire elemental mana, the effects of his fire-type spells were boosted to a whole new level. Not only did they have a push-back effect but there was also a chance to wreak havoc with an explosion effect; one surpassing that of the [Fireball] skill. Coincidentally, this effect had been triggered in this attack leading to the reverberating explosion.

Less than 4 seconds after the short blast, the dust from the explosion settled down as the result of the collision became visible for all to see.

"Ho, How?!" Fudo stared in shock at the result of the collision.

Surprisingly, the monster had actually come out unscathed from that encounter. It was quite unimaginable as everyone knew that earth type monsters had a weakness for fire-type spells, much less fire-type spells with explosive capabilities. The worst part was that the monster had actually done so with its bare fist and not any blockade or weapon. Even if it was thanks to a skill, the skill was an attack type one and not a defensive skill. Hence, it was still quite shocking to see the Guard Golem come out unscathed. 

"Keep your head in the game, Fudo!" Sato yelled at him in the party chat[1].

"Uh, alright." Fudo recovered from his shock. He recalled that his main goal was to attract the monster's attention and not to slay it. Even if the attack didn't harm the monster, it would have still felt part of the force and got irked and annoyed at him attacking it. Just like how an adult would would feel irritated when a 10 year old stranger would suddenly appear and attack him. Even if the kid's punches don't hurt, the adult would still be annoyed by the kid's unrelenting attitude. It could also be said to be the same as when a little ant bites an adult. Though you won't get sick or lose vitality, the bite would still hurt a bit. The Guard Golem, in this case, would surely be frustrated and vexed at Fudo's guts for attacking it twice even more so with having an explosion occur right before it.

"Roar!"

[Earth Roar]

With a maddened glare, the Guard Golem turned towards Fudo before roaring out loud in anger as invisible air waves diverged in a conical fashion. Wherever the air waves passed, the terrain was ruined as miniature rocks of different shapes sprung forth from the ground in an erratic and wild fashion. Despite there being a distance of more than 10 metres between them, the effects of the roar still reached Fudo before he could even react.

-35 (105/140)

"Puah!" Fudo suddenly puked blood as he almost fell to the ground, avoiding doing so by leaning on his staff. But when the ground began shaking as the terrain immediately changed, Fudo could barely remain standing. Maybe it was thanks to his above average weight but he was able to somehow keep himself standing. 

The sound wave had only stooped after having gone 2 metres past Fudo.

'Damn it!' Fudo complained internally as he used his free hand to wipe the leftover blood on his mouth.

"Fudo!" Seiichi yelled in worry.

While Fudo had a hard time with his own 'partner', Xue Yan didn't have things any easier. When the Guard Golem Fudo faced had blocked his attack, the one Xue Yan faced had actually dodged hers. Immediately after doing so, it glanced at her in vexation before lifting a foot and stomping heavily on the ground.

*Bang*

A weird movement occurred underneath the ground as a strange bulge formed and darted towards Xue Yan, leaving in its path, a continuous molehill. 

'Run.'

This was the only thing in her mind as Xue Yan immediately turned around an began running with the limit of strength her legs could muster. 

Infinite Realm was made to mimic reality in almost every aspect. As such, both the good and bad of reality were made to exist. The human body had a limit or rather, all objects have a limit. When an object or entity begins its path of motion, it undergoes a special quantity known as acceleration. An entity's acceleration could differ from another or be the same, but the thing that remains clear is that once the entity begins its motion, it isn't at its fastest.[2]

Normally, earth type monsters have the disadvantage of being slower than players both in movements and attacks, but Xue Yan was a bit too slow to react to the attack. As a result of this, by the time she began running, she couldn't exhibit her full speed yet but the attack was already dashing at her at full speed. Hence, by the time she took her 4th step, the strange bulge had already appeared beneath her, occupying a 2 metre area with her in the middle.

[Trans-mutate]!

Within that second, a few stalagmites vented out from the bulge darting diagonally upwards from the sides like a fresh-and-up morning wood[3], with their target being the person in the middle.

'Is this it?' Xue Yan stared unwillingly at the rocks. In that millisecond, she knew she couldn't escape the encirclement and would surely die from being stabbed multiple times like that. Even if she lived, the rocks would hold her in place, turning her into nothing more than a pig waiting to be slaughtered. 

At that moment, countless emotions flooded Xue Yan's heart. Unwillingness, sorrow, anxiety, fear, disappointment. She knew that dying here would end up affecting her progress as it would take at least half an hour for her to resuscitate. That half-hour was enough for guild elites to get even closer to reaching them, if not catching up to them. Once they did so, they might even defeat the world class boos before their(Sato's) tried to do so. Once that happens, her mission would be registered as an automatic failure, leading to her losing a lot thereby affecting her gaming career.

'I'm sorry.' Xue Yan's eyes glistened with tears. 

"Ha!"

A loud shout suddenly broke her from her reverie as a figure had appeared before her.

With eyes wide open, Xue Yan watched as that figure slashed apart the approaching stalagmites in front, while also grabbing her with one hand and tossing her away from the encirclement.

"You…" Xue Yan stared in shock as she didn't know what to say.

"I still haven't fulfilled my part of the deal. So don't go dying on me now." Sato said plainly.

His emotionless look mixed with his heroic actions had unknowingly tugged a string in her heart as a slight blush arose on her cheeks but Sato was too busy focusing elsewhere.

Tightening his grasp on his sword, Sato slashed at the remaining stalagmites, breaking them into pieces.

Without wasting any time, Sato hurriedly retreated, simply for no reason other than the fact that the Guard Golem was dashing towards him. He ran without stop till he noticed that the Guard Golem no longer pursued him, before he finally slumped with a sigh of relief.

Back then, Sato had been paying attention to Xue Yan and Fudo's attempts but mostly on Xue Yan. The reason was no other than she being weaker than Fudo. Sato had grown up with Fudo and he knew his strengths and weaknesses. He believed that no matter the issue, Fudo would still manage to survive even if it meant doing so with only a sliver of health left. And he was right.

Although it looked like Fudo was a goner back when he got attacked, with Seiichi's assist and his own overwhelming stats, Fudo had managed to escape the clutches of the Guard Golem despite being heavily injured. Only someone as slippery and sly as he was could do such a thing.

As for Xue Yan, she was still both lower than Fudo in attack power and HP but even defense, hence the need to monitor her actions. Although there was Lu Zhen close by, Sato still did so because his instincts nagged him. Apparently, he was right. Lu Zhen had suddenly had his actions stiffened, a result from the 3rd Guard Golem interfering with an [Earth Roar]. This resulted in him being a tag too slow to save Xue Yan, and with Sato being the next closest to her, he(Sato) could only do so. Of course, Lu Zhen didn't end up with much trouble. As an [Assassin], he obviously had different ways to extricate himself from a fight.

"Luckily, they still abide by the rule." Sato sighed as he saw the Guard Golems halt their steps once they were 40 metres away from the portal.

"What do we do now?" Fudo asked. He had already hurried to join up with the others. As for Yato and Katsuo, those two were still in hiding as Sato didn't intend for them to be noticed by the monsters yet. 

"We can try to kite them from this distance." Seiichi asked. 

"Won't work. They will end up retreating plus we don't know why they don't get past the 40 metres mark. Who knows whether they would just ignore it eventually." Lu Zhen said as he glanced at the two Guard Golems that stood staring at them, with a frown. The third one had already went back to guard the gate but the two Guard Golems still didn't go back.

Fudo smacked his shoulder before saying "Hey, don't go raising up flags like that. That could be dange-"

"Roar!" The two Guard Golems suddenly roared fiercely.

"What's going on?" Xue Yan asked as she covered her ears with both hands. 

Before anybody could consider answering questions, the two Guard Golems suddenly walked towards them.

The first step seemed difficult for them to take but they managed to do so within 3 seconds. The second step took half of that and the third step was done at a regular pace. Sato's team stared at this is in awe or rather, in fear and disbelief, before Sato finally recovered first.

"Run!"