Chapter 396 - 390 : One Minute 3

"Ha!" The [Berserker] roared as he brought down his sword.

Just as the [Berserker] was only a few steps away from Sato, Tawaki and Ares slowed done by just a tiny bit, making the [Berserker] become the lead attacker as well as the one who would reach Sato first.

'Hmm?'

Sato noticed it and immediately guessed what was going on.

The [Berserker] had used [Charge] to catch up to him and a special effect of the skill was to stun the target with the next move the user would perform. Once stunned, the [Assassins] would be able to land a clear hit. However, if Sato were to turn his attention towards the [Berserker], he would suffer an attack from either of the two [Assassins] or maybe even both.

'I'll take you then.'

Sato thrust his blade towards the [Berserker] as he wanted to eliminate him immediately. 

Compared to getting attacked by 2 [Assassins], suffering a [Stun] effect from the [Berserker]'s attack was worse. If that were to happen, he would end up coming into contact with loads of attacks from the others.

-589 (???/??? ???)

Like a hot knife through butter, [Drakken] pierced through the Mid-tier Mortal rank armour the [Berserker] wore, before lodging itself into his chest. Despite that, the [Berserker] only crunched his face in pain as he went ahead to swing his great-sword.

Among all the classes, it was the [Berserker] that had the highest level of pain endurance. True to the class' name, players who selected the class would have a higher pain tolerance than others and also have their pain limiter's bottom limit at 20% rather than the usual 50%-30%. Apart from that, their attack speed would also slightly increase as their HP did as this was one of the passive effects and advantages of the class. 

"Hehe." The [Berserker] grinned as his sword came swinging down at Sato.

"Too slow." Sato struck out with his right hand as the [Astral Blade] clashed with the sword, sending it to the side.

The assassin duo had already arrived right beside Sato with one behind him and the other by his right. With his left sword stuck in the [Berserker] and his right sword having blocked the attack, Sato looked to be at a disadvantage at this very moment.

"Die!" The duo roared.

Knowing that he couldn't dodge both attacks, Sato tilted his body to the side to dodge the dagger from behind while he brought down the [Astral Blade] at Tawaki. 

Sato had decided to tank Tawaki's attack since he was lower than Ares in terms of level. With the difference increased by one, Tawaki's attacks would be even less effective than Ares', despite having a much larger increase in attack power. 

'He chose me. As expected.' Tawaki smirked.

Despite seeing the sword coming at him, he didn't pause in his actions as he stabbed his dagger right into Sato's chest. 

-3 (???/??? ???) (AN: This is what Tawaki sees in relation to Sato's HP)

Sadly, as part of IR's level difference effect, Tawaki's blade wasn't able to go deep as it only made its way barely an inch deep. But that was enough for him.

'[Strand]!'

"!!!"

Suddenly, Sato felt his control over his body slip, as all his movements and actions abruptly paused.

*Shiik*

-3 (???/??? ???)

Ares took that opportunity to change the direction of his dagger as he stabbed Sato right in the chest from behind. He had aimed for his heart but as with Tawaki's, Ares' dagger didn't go in too deep.

"[Strand]!"

[Strand] was actually a spell scroll Emperor's Might had chanced upon during one of their explorations in a small cavern within Black Grill's Cave. It was located in a Rare-Steel rank chest. Only 5 of the scrolls were uncovered and they had the ability to stun a target for one second so long as the target was under level 20. It was one of the selected items to be used against the Kobold King in the raid but since Sato's priority level had increased, the duo was made to use it against him. 

As for the reason why Sato was to be stunned, it lied in Chesces.

"...triekos greftiamorimos. Haltfia marikos des vielga satigrey. [Centennial One Shot]."[1]

[[ System notification :

You have received a temporary blessing from the Silver God's relic. 

For one attack, all attributes are raised to the one rank above the user up to Practitioner rank, and level increased by 5, up to level 20.

Cool-down : 5 days. ]]

Suddenly, Chesces' body lit up in silver flames as his aura began to rise rapidly. Like an angel descending from the heavens, Chesces was glowing in silver-colored light as he radiated an aura of sacredness alongside destruction and battle intent.

Chesces then grasped his sword tightly with one hand and before anyone knew it, he kicked the floor and flew straight at Sato. The speed at which he moved was almost like a bullet as he was too fast for anyone to notice nor catch up to.

Within a second, Chesces had appeared right in front of Sato and stabbed his sword at him. 

The sword, covered in silver sacred light, made contact and released a blinding light as well as a loud explosion.

*Boom*

An explosion occurred at the spot Sato and Chesces stood at as Tawaki, Ares, and the [Berserker] left the site in a hurry, in fear of getting caught in the blast.

"Is it over?" The [Ranger] who had survived Sato's rampage from before, asked with an anxious expression.

There was dust all up in the air, acting as a smokescreen that prevented the result from being seen so the [Ranger] couldn't help but ask. He was anxious because of the attack performed by Chesces couldn't stop Sato, then nothing could. 

While he wasn't close, he still felt the energy that Chesces had radiated at that moment. It made him feel weak in his knees and the [Ranger] didn't doubt that if he was the target of that attack, he would die over 10 times just to that one move.

"How would I know? You're a [Ranger] so shouldn't your sight be better than mine?" Silver Wolf backfired.

He was feeling shocked, hopeful, and fearful all at the same time. Shocked at the strength Chesces had displayed, hopeful that Sato would fall under it and fearful of what Emperor's Might still have hidden. Just the power they had displayed in this battle was enough to show that they were worthy enough to contend with the Kobold King and Silver Wolf knew that they had more trump cards hidden.

'We need to be more cautious about these guys.'

"Ah...I can't see it." The [Ranger] awkwardly replied Silver Wolf's retort.

"Im, impossible!"

A cry attracted the two's attention.

"What happened?"