Battle of the Dark Night (Part 2)

Suddenly, silently, a figure cloaked in dark, faint shadows materialized out of nowhere behind Punk. At the same time, another identical figure appeared behind Kane!

"Three enemies?" In a flash of lightning, Punk's mind raced, azure magic power swirling like tiny vortexes in his pupils!

"No! That's not it, it's a skill—Shadow Clone!"

Punk reached the accurate conclusion almost instantly. If there were three enemies, he and Kane would have already died from the first sneak attack, with no chance to even consider the enemy count!

Just as Punk arrived at his conclusion, two pitch-black figures, swift as lightning, swung the curved, slender, dark-green daggers in their hands towards Punk and Kane's throats! As the green blades, symbols of death, drew closer, not a trace of panic appeared on Punk's face.

The effect of a Shadow Clone was to use shadow energy to create an illusionary phantom almost identical to the original body and manipulate it for attacks and other actions. However, this clone was, after all, merely a phantom shadow; it possessed no substantial attack or defense power, so its sole purpose was to confuse the enemy, not to inflict damage.

Now, through the System's analysis, there was a slight disorder and redundancy in the energy flow of the shadow before him. The possibility of it being a phantom clone was as high as eighty percent, yet Punk still unhesitatingly unleashed the "Lesser Shield Spell" he had just prepared. It is real, yet it is false; it is false, yet it is real. Although the System's analysis and the logic that the enemy should attack Kane first, as he was closer to their companion to protect them, both indicated that the sharp-attacking enemy before Punk was merely an illusion, who could say the enemy wouldn't play against common thinking and disguise their true form as an illusion to attack? Punk dared not risk his life.

However, this time the enemy played no tricks. The daggers, flashing with an eerie green cold light, dissolved into a mist-like shadow upon contact with the faint blue shield created by Punk. It truly was just a clone!

"Then...", Punk looked at Kane. Without a doubt, the pitch-black figure shrouded in shadows attacking Kane was the enemy's true form.

As a Knight, Kane was more adept at charging attacks. His sharp but overly long lance was not suitable for close-quarters combat. His enchanted armor, while providing extremely strong defense, also reduced his agility, making it very disadvantageous for Kane to be approached by an agile infiltrator.

However, Kane was no pushover. With lightning speed, he suddenly leaned back, and at the same time, his scorching lance, entwined with intense battle qi, slanted upwards from below towards the enemy. At this moment, Kane had avoided being killed in one blow, and he had also launched an effective counterattack. If the enemy had chosen to continue the pursuit, they might have very likely torn Kane's throat, but they themselves would inevitably have been cut in half by the lance.

Because he was in the pit, Kane had not immediately noticed the abnormal behavior of the first infiltrator. Under the sudden attack of this second infiltrator, although Kane had not prepared his defense in advance like Punk, he still adopted the response measure with the highest survival probability—a gamble!

He was gambling that the enemy wouldn't dare to fight him to the death!

As it turned out, his gamble paid off. The second infiltrator lightly stepped in mid-air, and as a few shadow ripples spread from where her toes touched down, her figure gently floated away like petals in a breeze.

"Shadow Step," this nimble skill that gave infiltrators the ability to move without a trace allowed the second infiltrator to effortlessly dodge Kane's attack, but she also lost her final chance to kill Kane!

Kane unleashed his battle qi and, while almost pressed against the ground, instantly launched his charge. Nearly scraping the ground, Kane burst out of the pit and, after a few rolls to dissipate the force, stood beside Punk.

By this time, both enemy infiltrators had re-entered stealth. On the entire cracked, night-covered land, everything had once again returned to a tranquility as if "nothing had happened." But everyone knew that a great crisis was brewing in the darkness...

Punk's face was somewhat pale, as was Kane's. And Pute, who had long been terrified into immobility by the fast-paced combat filled with deadly intent, was trembling so much he couldn't even stand!

Under the current circumstances, victory was already out of reach. Retreat (escape) was the only way out. However, it was the night, which was extremely advantageous to the enemy. How could it be easy to escape from two infiltrators who were clearly of a higher level than them!

Without much time to think, Punk immediately cast a rather draining Journeyman Level Abjuration magic on himself—Mage Armor. A gray circular shield, shimmering with scattered blue dots, protected Punk. Facing two enemies who could appear from any direction at any moment, a 360-degree defense was crucial. Kane, disregarding the damage to his armor, infused it with Light Battle Qi. Now, he was like a golden, shining statue, gripping his lance motionlessly!

It could be said that this was the most complete defensive state for the two of them. Even if the two infiltrators attacked with all their might, not only would they be unable to break through these layers of defense, but they would also expose their own forms.

However... there was a slight... but significant drawback that could not be ignored—the immense consumption.

Both Punk's Mage Armor and Kane's infused battle qi required the casters to continuously output magic power or battle qi to maintain. Even without fierce attacks to further increase energy consumption, at their Journeyman Level Soul Level, Punk and Kane could only maintain this state for a few minutes at most. Once their magic power and battle qi were depleted, the two, stripped of their "turtle shell" protection, would be even more desperate!

In fact, with Punk and Kane's speed, if they fled with all their might, no! If they retreated with all their might, there was still a considerable chance of successfully retreating (escaping). After all, infiltrators who excelled at hiding did not possess the massive stamina of warriors, nor did they have convenient magic spells to increase their speed like mages. Therefore, Punk and Kane were like antelopes trying to escape a cheetah's pursuit. As long as they could evade the cheetah's initial full-throttle sprint, they could easily shake off the cheetah, which would soon be exhausted, by maintaining their speed for a longer period.

But the problem was... how could they maximize their chances of evading the initial pursuit of these two excellent cheetah-like infiltrators?

Punk quietly turned his head to look at Konola City, whose silhouette was already faintly visible in the distance. According to the System's analysis, the result quickly came out. Based on the mobility displayed by these two enemies in the previous battle, their peak speed was at most fifteen seconds!

However, during these fifteen seconds, Punk and Kane were in immense danger because no one could guarantee that the enemy wouldn't have special secret arts to burst their speed, and the two who were fleeing at full speed would have no ability to counterattack!

Therefore... if there was a method to temporarily stop the enemy's pursuit, it would greatly increase the safety of their retreat (escape). It would be best if the enemy had to stop to deal with something, and by the time the enemy finished dealing with the "trouble"... they would already be far away!

And this method... was actually quite simple!

The corners of Punk's mouth curved into a chilling, bone-piercing cold smile!

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