Chapter 109: A Fierce Battle Against Five

Faced with Little Donnie’s reckless slash, the gray-armored figure merely flicked their wrist. The long silver lance, despite its size, moved with astonishing agility. The butt of the weapon snapped upward and struck the flat of Donnie’s sword head-on.

A terrifying force surged through his arms. If not for his solid fundamentals and Nolan’s constant insistence on gripping a weapon with both hands, the sword would have flown from his grasp.

Little Donnie staggered backward several steps, blood and energy churning violently inside his chest.

“Careful!”

Nolan immediately twisted his body around. The greatsword in his hands shifted back into its longsword form mid-motion, allowing him to forcibly redirect the blade toward the gray-armored figure’s wrist. The attack compelled the enemy to abandon their follow-up strike against Donnie and pull back the lance to defend.

Clang! The collision rang through the hall like thunder.

Taking advantage of the opening, Little Donnie rolled away and narrowly escaped the deadly exchange. Cold sweat already drenched his back.

So strong.

After only a single clash, the difference between them was painfully obvious. The gray-armored warrior’s combat experience was terrifyingly refined.

Shock flashed through Little Donnie’s heart, yet instead of fear, it only ignited the stubborn fire buried deep in his bones. He quickly regained his footing and charged in again.

He understood his own strengths well. Close-quarters entanglement was where he excelled.

A lance possessed overwhelming range, but in tight combat it became far less flexible. Little Donnie continuously harassed the enemy’s lower body, coordinating with Nolan to disrupt their footing and rhythm.

And his attack was far from meaningless.

His aggressive opening assault successfully drew the gray-armored warrior’s attention, creating an opportunity for the others.

A ghostlike figure slipped soundlessly through the shadows cast by the fighters.

Using the clash between Nolan and the enemy as cover, Vivi silently circled behind them like a true apex predator. Every trace of her presence disappeared. Her movements were light, fluid, almost feline.

The moment the lance locked against Nolan’s sword, Vivi exploded forward. Her black dagger darted toward the gap at the back of the enemy’s neck armor. The timing was flawless.

Yet just before the blade struck, the gray-armored figure reacted as though they had eyes on their back. Without even turning around, they twisted their body at an impossible angle.

Then, while keeping Nolan’s frontal attack at bay with one hand on the lance, they abruptly dropped low and drove their left elbow backward.

Vivi’s eyes widened. She forcefully twisted her body in midair, executing a nimble backward flip that barely avoided the elbow strike before landing several meters away.

Her dagger scraped along the edge of the armor instead of piercing through, leaving only a shallow white mark accompanied by a harsh screech of metal.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

This monster’s combat instincts were horrifying.

The gray-armored figure immediately followed with a sweeping horizontal strike of the lance. The heavy weapon tore through the air with a deadly howl, forcing both Nolan and Little Donnie back.

Turning smoothly, they raised the lance and prepared to finish off the troublesome assassin first.

That spiral wind-pressure attack again!

At that exact moment, three green-glowing arrows screamed through the air from the distance.

Their target was not the figure themself, but the lance in their hands.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The impacts landed almost simultaneously. The immense force knocked the lance slightly off course, forcing its wielder to abandon the technique before it fully formed.

Romina had been circling the battlefield the entire time. The moment she saw Vivi in danger, she acted without hesitation.

Her greatbow curved into a full moon as enchanted arrows flashed forth like an endless storm. From every impossible angle, they streaked toward the gray-armored warrior’s eye slit, joints, and every conceivable weak point.

The enemy’s response, however, was brutally efficient. The silver lance spun into a radiant defensive screen, knocking aside every arrow aimed at their upper body. At the same time, their footwork never faltered, constantly shifting to maintain the perfect position for either attack or retreat. Sharp metallic collisions echoed throughout the chamber as sparks scattered everywhere.

“This guy is absolutely ridiculous!” Vivi cursed under her breath.

Their strength and speed were monstrous enough already, but their combat experience was even more terrifying. Frontal assaults, sneak attacks, coordinated pressure. None of it seemed capable of breaking through their defenses.

“The sovereign of the Spine of the Earth, foundation of all creation, heed my call!”

Renee finally joined the battle, her clear chanting voice ringing through the hall.

“Earthbind!”

She precisely predicted the enemy’s next foothold and slammed both hands against the ground.

Dense earth-element energy gathered before her. The stone floor beneath the gray-armored figure instantly softened into swamp-like mud, and two massive stone hands burst upward, clamping tightly around their ankles.

This was the fourth-circle elemental resonance Renee wielded most effectively within this earth-element demiplane: Rossi’s Earth Shackles.

The sudden attack caused the gray-armored warrior to pause for the first time. Clearly, even they had not expected it.

Still, they showed no panic. They drove the lance violently into the ground.

Boom! A violent shockwave of wind exploded outward from their body. The newly formed stone hands shattered instantly beneath the impact.

Freed from the restraint, the gray-armored figure smoothly pulled the lance back into position and redirected the spearhead toward Renee, who had yet to recover from casting.

Clearly, they had already judged that the seemingly weakest spellcaster posed the greatest threat.

“Not happening!”

Nolan immediately rushed to intercept, though unease flickered in his mind.

The gray-armored warrior’s instincts remained terrifyingly sharp, yet their target selection felt strangely inconsistent. Someone with this level of skill should not have repeatedly abandoned advantageous attacks so erratically.

Almost as if…

Their mind was incomplete.

The thought flashed through Nolan’s head, but his movements never slowed. Unfortunately, the enemy was simply too fast.

They weren’t going to make it in time.

“Renee, get down!” Nolan roared as he prepared to activate his skill.

Before he could move further, however, the twang of Romina’s bowstring rang out first. Her greatbow drew into a flawless crescent, the vibrating strings blending into a rapid and exhilarating battle hymn.

Rainstorm Volley!

Bvvvvvv!

In a single instant, more than a dozen arrows formed an airtight net that surged forward like a raging tidal wave, sealing every path ahead of the gray-armored figure.

Even they dared not charge directly into such a barrage.

The silver lance transformed into a spinning cyclone, smashing every incoming arrow from the air.

These arrows were far more powerful than before. Even after being deflected, they buried themselves deep into the stone floor, kicking up clouds of dust and debris.

“Well done, Captain Romina!” Nolan shouted toward the elven ranger in the distance, lingering fear still fresh in his chest.

He immediately abandoned his offensive pressure and rushed to Renee’s side, shielding her behind him.

Renee’s face had turned pale when the enemy charged at her, but even so, she had refused to retreat. Clutching her staff tightly, she forced herself to prepare another spell.

As Nolan and the gray-armored warrior clashed once more, the battle descended fully into chaos.

“Wait. Listen to me—”

Nolan held the re-expanded greatsword form of Mountain’s Resonance with both hands, relying on its sheer weight to withstand the lance’s savage assault while struggling to catch his breath.

“Silence. Trespasser. Thief. Die.”

The response came only as a few cold, fragmented words.

Nolan felt a headache coming on.

So much for talking things out. His diplomacy plan was officially dead.

“No choice now. Everyone, full suppression!” he shouted to his companions.