Chapter 60: The Weapon Throwing Pierrot

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Using their supernatural senses as Undead, these monsters could see something that most living people would never be able to detect through their special phantasmal souls.

Something powerful was surging from within Riven’s Aura. Or rather, a living creature stood right behind him, threateningly gazing at the entire army of Undead as if they were nothing but prey waiting to be devoured.

It was the embodiment of Riven’s "Hunger."

A gigantic beast loomed behind him, roaring with multiple twisted ears, drooling jaws lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth, and crazed glowing red eyes that burned with endless appetite. His power continued evolving with every second he spent fighting, growing more refined and more terrifying.

Riven knew he could not waste even a single moment. He moved forward without hesitation and immediately cut through the remaining Dark Infantrymen. Their armored bodies were sliced apart with brutal efficiency and sent flying in every direction, limbs and weapons scattering across the blood-soaked ground.

Ghosts attempted to stop his advance. Ghostly magic such as lingering curses, towering pillars of pale ghostly fire, and other spectral attacks assaulted him from every angle. Riven simply conjured his Domain of Silence, completely shutting down their attempts in an instant. Then he ended their fragile existences with a series of explosive long-range flame attacks that turned the surrounding air into a furnace. After clearing the immediate threat, he took another heavy step forward and clashed directly against the Death Knights.

The giant skeletons recognized his growing strength at once and assaulted him with their ancient swordsmanship arts. Unlike the loud and talkative Headless Knights, the Death Knights were silent and highly calculative warriors. They carefully observed his movements, predicted his attacks with cold precision, and constantly targeted his blind spots.

But Riven did not care about their skill. He let them hit him, deliberately tanking their heavy physical attacks with his reinforced body. Once they committed, he destroyed their ancient weapons one by one. Immediately afterward he unleashed waves of freezing Ice and corrosive Poison. Vipers made of chilly winds and poisonous gases surged forward, slithering inside the hollow skeletons, freezing their bones solid before exploding them from the inside out. The Death Knights fell apart in shock, collapsing into scattered piles of frozen and shattered bones.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

"Shocked? I never intended to make this a fair swordsmanship fight..."

As Riven addressed their furious lingering souls, he noticed several Dark Specters, Demonic Headless Knights, and more Dark Infantrymen already closing in, charging at him from every possible direction.

This was the last major batch. Once he took them down, a full two hundred monsters would have been slain in this single engagement.

"Let’s do this."

He parried giant swords, heavy spears, and massive axes with precise movements. At the same time he unleashed freezing icicle spears and long-range explosive sword attacks. These were quickly followed by Abyssal Assaults, Assassination Shadow Blades, Poisonous Viper Fists, and even powerful "bites" delivered through his Call of the Beast Skill. That particular skill activated more strongly the more exhausted he became and the more his lifeforce was drained by the Sacrificial Werewolf Transformation, creating an incredibly effective synergy between the two abilities.

"RAAAHHHH!"

He roared like a completely possessed beast. Claws, fangs, and swords cut through anyone who dared approach him. Yet the enemies were simply too many. He was constantly pushed back and thrown around by the sheer numbers. Arrows pierced his armor and exploded against his back, tearing away chunks of flesh. Ghostly flames continued to affect his soul, while his mind and spirit were rapidly being drained by the constant pressure.

"Haaa... Haaa...!"

And there were still many left. The lingering ghosts of the fallen Death Knights had also proven to be extremely insistent, bombarding him without pause using phantom sword attacks that phased through ordinary defenses.

"AWOOOOOO!"

But then, right in the middle of the chaotic battlefield, a very good boy appeared.

"ROOARR!"

With a ferocious roar, Noir bit straight through the ghosts and pierced their ethereal forms, swallowing several of them whole. From his back, a familiar Pierrot Girl threw dozens of SS-Rank and higher knives in rapid succession. The accumulated mana inside the weapons exploded on contact, blowing apart the giant Undead’s cores one after another in brilliant flashes of light.

"Riven! We came to help! You can’t handle all of them alone!"

"W-What?! Go hide!"

Daniela shook her head firmly, defying his orders once again. "No!"

"But...!" Riven muttered, feeling a sharp wave of guilt. He did not want her to risk her life for him, and yet... "Wait..."

He realized she was fighting really damn well. She used Noir’s shadow movement to avoid almost all incoming damage while combining Dice Thrust with her impressive repertoire of weapons.

"You gained a new skill!"

"Heh!"

She had indeed gained a new Skill after leveling up significantly, and Riven instantly recognized its nature.

The Skill itself was rather simple in concept.

[Weapon Throw]

It allowed any Pierrot to grab a weapon and throw it with expert precision. The thrown weapon would deal double the normal damage and could be seamlessly combined with Dice Thrust for even greater effect.

The problem was obvious: who would go out of their way to throw valuable weapons that could break under enough strain? Let alone throw them at powerful enemies?

Most hunters only carried a single main weapon, two at most. Almost nobody was rich enough to own hundreds of high-quality blades... well, Daniela was.

Weapon Throw was not exclusive to Pierrots. It was actually the characteristic Skill of the Juggler Class, representing the classic circus performances where performers threw knives or other weapons at a moving target for the audience’s amazement.

Because of that origin, the skill came with a fixed accuracy of nearly 100 percent, double damage, and only a 1 percent chance for the weapon to break if it was under S-Rank quality.

However, once a weapon reached S-Rank or higher, that breakage chance disappeared completely, allowing the user to throw the same weapons infinitely. The real dilemma was simple: who in the world actually owned enough S-Rank weapons to throw around so freely?

This was one of the classic problems with these incredible yet strangely specialized skills. Yet Daniela was now utilizing it with remarkable effectiveness to support Riven in the middle of the deadly fight.

Quite honestly, he was simply amazed by everything she was accomplishing right in front of his eyes.

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