Clash

——It's over!

The moment they realized the attack was coming.

The explorer's survival instincts were frantically issuing warnings.

You'll die!

He couldn't dodge this attack; he would surely die! But warriors specialize in combat, and Ollie was superior in speed.

There was no way he could dodge it with his own strength—bang!

Life and death hang in the balance.

But then, Reze felt a force coming from behind him, which pulled him away from the blade in the blink of an eye.

Reze turned his head to look.

An unbelievable scene unfolded before my eyes.

It was Drake, a hunter in the party, who grabbed him and then appeared before Ollie with astonishing speed.

The warrior who was performing a mid-air leaping strike suddenly stopped in mid-air.

The next second he was thrown out like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the woods of the valley, where he was eventually buried by broken branches.

"..."

The surrounding air was completely still.

Seeing Linsey standing beside Reze with his spear raised, people realized what had just happened.

The soldiers who just launched the surprise attack.

They were repelled by the man who claimed to be a Third Stage hunter!

"This..."

"Mr. Drake ..."

Neither the enemy nor Linsey's allies expected this outcome.

Reze has already revealed the other party's identity.

Fifth Stage awakened being, a warrior proficient in high-speed combat.

Such a person's strength in direct combat is undeniable. But even so, he was instantly defeated by Linsey!

"Ugh—"

at the same time.

Ollie leaped out of the broken tree canopy, clutching his chest.

His body trembled, unable to suppress the excruciating pain in his chest, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Fifth Stage warrior possesses Constitution resembling a ferocious humanoid Ferocious Beast.

Naturally, it wouldn't be killed in one blow.

He looked up at Linsey, his eyes filled with intense hostility.

In the instant he was knocked away, Ollie fully noticed Linsey's movements, but he was in mid-air and unable to dodge for the time being.

Ollie analyzed this calmly.

He believed he was faster than Linsey, but no match for her strength.

What profession is the awakened one?

Could there be such comprehensive and balanced physical strength?

Ollie had never heard of such a person in Reze's team.

Or rather, among the few Fifth Stage Awakened in Nine Bends City, he had never heard of anyone named Linsey.

He is definitely not Sixth Stage powerhouse.

But while his speed rivals that of a warrior specializing in this area, his strength is utterly overwhelming...

"And who are you, buddy?!"

Ollie cautiously questioned him.

But Linsey ignored Du Xiang and turned to Reze, saying, "Reze, that attack just now was already carrying killing intent. Let's take care of them."

Reze shook his head slightly.

He didn't blame Linsey for hiding her strength, but just smiled wryly with a teasing expression:

"You bastard, didn't you call yourself a hunter?"

Linsey pointed her rifle at the enemy. "After we're done fighting, I'll tell you the truth, and there will be no more secrets."

"..."

"You despicable scoundrel, don't think you've won just because you hit me once!"

He watched as Linsey ignored him.

Enraged, Ollie suppressed his injuries and lunged at him again.

Although he was furious, a soldier's experience would not be consumed by anger. He learned from his mistakes, and this time he did not leap into the air, but stayed close to the ground, nimbly maneuvering among the trees.

Approaching Linsey again, his figure appeared on either side of a tree, and almost simultaneously swung his longsword at Linsey from both sides.

"..."

Facing enemies so fast they leave only afterimages.

Linsey's expression remained calm as she stepped forward, her Steel Spear slashing horizontally through the air.

"Snort!"

The longsword clashed with the Steel Spear, and Ollie let out a muffled groan.

Even though he quickly changed his move and raised his sword to parry, the immense force from the weapon still forced him to stagger back several steps.

"Who taught you to react like this?"

Ollie gritted his teeth and asked the question.

In their two encounters, Linsey was clearly a step slower than him, but she managed to catch him precisely each time.

There's no reason for an enemy to react so quickly upon first meeting!

What Ollie didn't know was that Linsey had often sparred with Red in training over the past few years.

He can handle any enemy capable of forming a true physical clone.

Ollie's tactic of using speed to disrupt the afterimages was ultimately somewhat lacking.

"..."

brush--

The next second, the Steel Spear thrust out again.

Linsey completely ignored the enemy's questions during the battle.

The spear blade pierced through the sharp wind, striking the enemy's face like lightning.

Faced with this powerful spear, Ollie knew he couldn't withstand it and could only dodge.

So he quickly turned and retreated, controlling the distance between himself and Linsey.

A good warrior does not fight the strong with the weak.

Ollie abandoned the initiative to attack, instead using the terrain and his speed advantage to delay the attack and look for a real opportunity to strike.

"..."

If the opponent doesn't take the initiative to attack, Linsey is not easy to deal with.

His speed is slower than his opponent's, and that's an unchangeable fact.

On the other side.

Watching Linsey and Ollie engage in a one-on-one duel, even forcing the other to refrain from attacking.

Reze also seized the opportunity to rush to the rear.

They turned their attention to another perceiver, Flavi.

Reze roared and charged at the opponent:

"Flavi, what on earth did you do in the forest?!"

The perceiver retreated, a smile on his face, "Sorry, no comment."

"If you want to know the truth, you can only ask my employer."

Bang! Reze slashed down with his sword, piercing the tree trunk.

Flavi merely retreated to protect himself, showing no intention of retaliating.

Neither explorers nor perceivers are considered skilled combat-oriented awakened beings.

The Perceiver focuses on their own abilities and has excellent insight into the details of the battle; the Explorer is quick and agile, constantly switching tactics to try to attack.

The two men were advancing and retreating, neither gaining an advantage.

The others at the valley entrance wanted to help, but the two groups were locked in a fierce battle, and the Exploration Team couldn't find an opportunity to break through.

The battle was almost at a stalemate.

"..."

brush--

They clashed several more times.

Taking advantage of Ollie's quick movement to flank, Linsey suddenly sprinted forward, heading straight for Reze and the Perceptor.

He looked ready to join forces with Reze to take down the Perceptor first! "Don't even think about it!"

Of course, Ollie couldn't let such a thing happen.

Linsey's shift in focus also presents an opportunity for him.

The warrior watched as the enemy exposed his back, and with his already advantageous speed, he increased his speed again, thrusting his sword towards Linsey's back.

brush--

"Um?!"

This was almost a sure thing for the sword to strike.

Something illogical happened again.

As Ollie watched Linsey move forward, he suddenly defied inertia and veered off course.

His attack missed! This wouldn't have been a big deal, Ollie had the advantage of attacking from behind and only needed to adjust his position to continue his attack.

But just as his forward thrust missed its mark, a sharp pain shot through his wrist! "Ah!"

"What is that?!"

— Poison Thorn Wood Armor.

Although there were no visible traces of the equipment on Linsey's body, the equipment was indeed functioning in her Equipment Slot.

Ollie's sword, which had been aimed at Linsey, narrowly missed him.

However, his hand was already affected by the Poison Thorn Wood Armor! The warrior instantly suppressed the pain.

However, the momentary daze caused by the excruciating pain is far too fatal in actual combat.

When he realized he had been tricked.

Linsey's true purpose was not to support her companions in a fleeting moment.

What greeted them was Linsey turning around and her figure appearing as if a young girl were throwing herself into their arms.

Bang! With a muffled thud, Linsey crashed into Ollie.

The soldier's mind went blank, and the excruciating pain in his wrist spread across his chest, making it difficult for him to suppress the pain for any length of time.

"Waaah!"

Ollie's mind was completely filled with excruciating pain.

By the time he realized what was happening, he had already been knocked to the ground, and Linsey had stepped on his chest.

His thin clothes even allowed him to feel the shapes of the pebbles on the ground.

"You! Wait!"

Ollie was about to say something when he noticed that the weapon in Linsey's hand had changed.

The Steel Spear suddenly transformed into an unheard-of iron pipe-shaped object, which was pointing towards a clearing at the edge of the nearby woods.

Bang! A loud boom rang out above Ollie's head.

The bullets propelled by gunpowder were fired from the gun barrel at this moment.

Linsey fired a shot into the open space.

But in what seemed to be an empty space, a red bloodstain suddenly appeared the next second.

Immediately afterwards, a figure shot appeared shakily in the air.

"What... is this...?"

Snap—

The man who had been shot looked at the wound on his chest.

He had no idea what was happening to him, and just lay on the ground looking completely bewildered.