Chapter 40 Trickery is an art
The silver-haired Lamishtu stiffened, her expression icy: “Do you really think I don’t have the power?”
“Yes, you are, unfortunately, an ugly and somewhat powerless bitch,” Vandal said with a calm smile. Please let me be right.
The second he finished his sentence, a cold, thick aura swept across the cave. “You dared call me profanities?”
Vandal had been scared and shocked by Lamishtu at the beginning. But after he calmed down, he realized there was something off about her.
“Hahahahaha! You’re just pretending!” Chan laughed. “Vandal was right, you are a whore!” Chan had caught on to Vandal’s game. He also noticed that she did more talking and had not acted to deal with them since.
They were all smart people to become enforcers, but only Vandal had retained his calmness.
Now one thing could be confirmed: Lamishtu had just woken up and was not fully recovered. She was probably severely injured, so her strength was limited.
At least she didn’t have the total strength to kill them, so the five of them could still fight back. Apart from Jaden, who still didn’t know what to do, battle intent surged from the other four, and Vandal let out a breath.
If it was just him, he wouldn’t be able to beat Lamishtu and Ophelia, but if the group teamed up, there was a higher chance of winning.
“Ignorant meat bags, I shall destroy you.”
Shua!
Lamishtu flashed forward, charging at the five with Ophelia following behind.
“Fvck!”
Jaden rolled backwards, trying to get back to Vandal and the others. However, he had underestimated Lamishtu’s speed. She was much faster than Jaden, close to the speed of sound.
Shuuuuu!
Her black claws sliced across Jaden’s shoulders.
“Ahh!” Jaden howled in pain as one elbow fell off with a sickening crack while a tissue-dissolving poison entered his body.
“Help me!” Jaden screamed and begged Vandal and the others for help.
The four took in a cold breath. Lamishtu, though weakened and barely resembling a human anymore, still radiated terrifying strength.
This dude deserves to die for the stunt he just pulled, but… Vandal thought.
He turned towards the rest: “I’ll go rescue Jaden and try to hold back the woman. Everyone else should subdue Ophelia and then join me.” Vandal pulled out his bow and ran before Sabine could reply.
“But…” Sabine started to say.
Mael had taken a strength-boosting pill from Jaclyn so he could stand and move about in the meantime. Chan, Yazmeen, and Hutrar all looked deeply at Vandal before leaping at Ophelia as they activated their echoes.
Mael was doubtful as he saw Vandal about to clash with the creature. Could he really hold her back?
……………..
Teng~ sou-sou-sou
A few resonance energy arrows flashed towards Lamishtu.
Ding… Ding… Ding…
The arrows all hit their target, but sparks flew up instead. She only slowed down for a second due to the arrows.
Vandal’s heart shook. Her strength was definitely terrifying when she was at her peak.
“Why would you attack me? I am one of your kind,” Lamishtu said as she suddenly appeared completely human. The tentacles were gone, and she looked scared and shocked that Vandal had attacked her.
“Shit, she can appear human, but she’s not human. I need to remind myself that she’s a demonic animal.” Vandal shook his head and steeled his resolve.
“Help me…”
Jaden had lost an arm and tried to escape using Vandal’s attacks as cover.
“Jaden! If you just want to run, then you’ll definitely die. Team up with me and attack her!”
Vandal pulled his bow’s string back and released more resonance arrows while shouting at Jaden.
Jaden contemplated for a short while then nodded in agreement.
“Sabine! Help heal him!” Vandal yelled back as he kept firing barrages of energy arrows. Should I use the arrows that came with this bow? Vandal thought as he released arrow after arrow, each one blocked.
“But I…I need to stop the bleeding first,” Jaden said as he slowed his breathing and tried to remain conscious. Sabine came to help him, placing her hand on the stump. A warm blue light bloomed weakly, thinning the blood, and the wound looked a bit better than before.
Meanwhile, Lamishtu reverted to her true form. She laughed gruesomely, snatched up Jaden’s detached arm with her tentacles, and started eating it, relishing the taste. Then she launched another tentacle at Sabine, who was still healing Jaden.
“Do you really think I can’t stop you?” As soon as his words finished, Vandal pulled back his bow. A cold, sharp force appeared around a wooden arrow that had several inscriptions engraved on the body and the metal head.
Sou!
A sharp golden force formed a triangle on the arrow’s tip and sped towards Lamishtu with crazy speed. Within seconds, the arrow flew at her forehead, but she blocked it in the nick of time. However, it combusted into a mini explosion, throwing her backwards as she fell to the ground.
This time her arms were injured, visible burn marks and a single tear where the arrow had hit appeared on her arm.
“Hateful human…” Lamishtu retreated a few steps in anger and shock as she stood up. The arm she was eating was destroyed, further agitating her.
Vandal’s true aim was to injure her more and prevent her from eating anything that might make her stronger, since she was absorbing energy from the human blood being sent to the pool in the first place.
Vandal released his bow multiple times again, but this time it was the regular resonance energy arrows. Lamishtu took all the hits head-on and leapt at Vandal, spreading her tentacles so he would find it difficult to dodge.
Vandal suddenly formed a hand seal and turned into several projections which separated in different directions. Advanced Projection Technique: Illusion Fish! Vandal recalled the technique in his mind.
“Ignorant fool!” Lamishtu mocked as she immediately recognized which figure was the true Vandal. His heart shook, and he soon understood that even though she was weak at the moment, his advanced projection movement wouldn’t be able to trick her. She combined two tentacles and smashed them in his direction.
Bam!
The tentacles smashed Vandal into pieces on the spot.