Chương 45: He Just Won't Stop!

"Look at the clear board! Clear Rain Pavilion brought in both Big Gunn and Achilles—both fierce enough to have cleared Hell-difficulty dungeons! No wonder they took the Hell first-clear in Fallen Star City!"

"And I hear Slaughter the World once had some bad blood with Big Gunn—wonder if it's true."

"I heard that too. Apparently it was that Slaughtercharge's doing back in a starter village. The man was always arrogant—who knew he'd kick an iron plate this time! Good riddance. Cross Big Gunn, and let's see them swagger now!" … The ID "Big Gunn" was discussed on nearly every street and alley of Heaven's Descent now—the man was simply too unreasonable, hogging over half the server announcements single-handed. If that didn't make you the talk of the town, the game might as well shut down.

Using a return scroll, Ryan went back to Dragon Blood City.

"When do you plan to fight me one-on-one?" Achilles frowned. His patience had limits.

"Come on, to my shop's backyard." Ryan smiled and led Achilles there, then sent him a sparring request. [Player Big Gunn has sent you a sparring request. Accept?] Accept! [The spar begins in 10 seconds. All states temporarily restored!] [Countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven, six…] Listening to the countdown, Achilles felt a flicker of excitement and anticipation. After so long, he could finally measure himself against Big Gunn.

With a swing of his arm, the white cloth strips scattered, baring the black greatsword beneath. As for Ryan, he swapped into the Charging Wolf Set he'd gotten at the start. Its stat bonuses lagged well behind his loose endgame pieces, but it had one skill that made it perfect for PK. [Charging Wolf: Active skill. On activation, Attack Speed +25%, Movement Speed +25%, for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.] On top of that, every piece of the set added speed; paired with the System's 10x acceleration, his speed would soar. Charging Wolf! As the countdown ended, Ryan cast it at once, his movement and attack speed jumping a whole tier. Achilles, though, didn't foolishly rush in to trade blows. Instead he fell back fast, retreating into a corner. Following Ryan through the dungeon had taught him the man's edge—his monstrous attack speed and the bonus damage from Combo.

Stand and trade head-on, and you'd be a living target; and the attack speed of his greatsword couldn't match Ryan's, so he'd only be beaten down. Better to put his back to the corner: then Ryan's attacks could only come from one direction, and Achilles need only meet him head-on without fear of being thrown off rhythm by that absurd speed. He lacked Ryan's attack speed—but with his combat experience and skill, if Ryan's strikes all came from one angle, he could hold.

Then, playing it steady, he'd seize a moment of Ryan's lapse to counter, turn the tables, and drive Ryan into the corner. That was his plan. And of beating Big Gunn, he was confident. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Sure enough, under Achilles's deliberate counterplay, Ryan's offense stalled.

His attack speed was blistering, but Achilles, back to the corner, kept his massive greatsword crossed before him, blocking with the smallest of movements—and loosed sword-qi to counter besides. At such close range, even with 10x movement speed, Ryan kept eating hits from Achilles's wicked angles. Worse, when struck by the sword-qi, Ryan was afflicted with a Weaken state—movement speed down, defense slashed. Heh—worthy of the Achilles I know. He does have some real skill. Ryan smiled inwardly.

In combat experience and technique alike, Achilles was top-tier—which was exactly why his 10x acceleration advantage had been more than half neutralized. Dragging this out won't do. Knowing Achilles, all that "full defense" surely hid no end of nasty tricks; the moment Ryan fell for one, an answering storm would break over him. So he couldn't draw it out. His style was fast aggression—he had to end it in one burst.

Drag on too long, and once Achilles adapted to his rhythm and single attack pattern, the counterattack would come. The man had soloed Hell-difficulty Ashan Castle without a guide; he was no pushover.

"If melee won't work, I'll go ranged!" There was a skill he hadn't yet field-tested—Fireball, lately plundered from the Fire Turtles. Now enhanced to Level 2, its effect was much improved, and with his 10x casting speed, he could loose ten fireballs a second. You like hugging that corner, do you? Let me show you what 'caught in your own web' feels like. The corner of his mouth curled; he abruptly broke off and fell back ten meters.

"What's going on?" The sudden shift made Achilles—just getting a grip on the rhythm—frown, watching Ryan retreat. Did he… sense something? He can't have. He has that kind of battle sense too? But just as doubt rose, a scorching breath rolled over him. He looked up—a rain of fireballs falling from the sky, hurtling at his corner. Damn, what is this?!

Startled, Achilles felt the thick flame-aura and tried to flee the corner—only to find, to his horror, that the sky-blotting fireballs had sealed off every escape route. Isn't he a physical class? Since when does he use magic?! Is this a joke?! Sword-Guard Shield! At the last hair's breadth, Achilles planted his greatsword in the ground and ducked behind it; a defensive dome of gray, half-transparent sword-qi sprang up at once.

"He actually forced out my life-saving defense! The kid really does have skill!" Achilles broke into a cold sweat. Lucky he'd kept a card in reserve—otherwise these fireballs would've finished him. The Sword-Guard Shield had a full 100, 000 HP, blocking a great deal of damage; its one flaw was that he couldn't move while it was up. But for blocking Fireball, that was enough. But… was it really? With 10x casting speed and Ambidexterity's two-handed casting, Ryan could loose a full twenty fireballs a second.

Even if each dealt only 200 to the shield, that was 4, 000 HP a second—and a 100, 000-HP shield wouldn't last long under that.

"Damn, did this guy swallow an Energizer battery? He just won't stop!" Achilles, dome up, was now riding the tiger. Keep this up and the shield's HP would run dry—but drop it, and the sky-full of fireballs would bury him in an instant. Either way, death.

"Is this what they mean by 'caught in your own web'?" Achilles smiled bitterly. If he hadn't bolted for the corner at the start, he wouldn't be in this dilemma now.

"Sigh… I really can't catch a break…"