Chapter 93: Sky Dancer Vs Webfiend Lord(2)

Chapter 90

BOOOOM!

The impact sent Katherine tumbling through the air. She quickly stabilized herself with Sky Walk, but before she could regain control of the situation, the Webfiend Lord’s other hands came at her from different directions.

One struck toward her head, another aimed for her chest, and a third swept toward her legs, forcing her to react to several attacks at once. The scythe followed close behind, its curved edge threatening to tear through everything in its path.

Katherine narrowed her eyes and moved with everything she had, stepping onto invisible footholds and twisting her body through the narrow openings between the incoming attacks. One hand passed over her head, another grazed her armor, and she managed to deflect the third with her sword. However, the impact numbed her arm and nearly knocked the weapon from her grasp.

Then the scythe arrived.

Katherine crossed her sword in front of her body, bracing herself for the incoming blow.

CLAAANG!

The collision sent her crashing downward. She landed hard, her boots carving two deep grooves through the ground before she finally managed to stop herself.

Pain surged through her arms, and her breathing had grown noticeably heavier. Sweat ran down her forehead, mixing with the blood that had begun to stain her armor as she struggled to recover from the relentless assault.

She had been forced onto the defensive.

The Webfiend Lord no longer gave her the opportunity to dictate the rhythm of the battle. Whenever she tried to attack, it countered with overwhelming strength, and whenever she attempted to reposition herself using Sky Walk, its numerous hands forced her to change direction before she could execute her next move.

Its attacks were also becoming increasingly difficult to predict, and worse still, the creature was growing more ruthless with every exchange.

Katherine gritted her teeth and raised her sword again. She wasn’t going to give up, at least not yet.

Gathering the wind around her body, she surged forward with her blade blazing in emerald flames, determined to regain the initiative before the monster could press its advantage any further.

The Webfiend Lord met her without hesitation.

BAM!

Their weapons collided, sending a shockwave across the battlefield. Katherine twisted her body, redirected her momentum, and attacked from the side, only for the scythe to intercept her strike. She immediately changed direction and attempted to attack from above, but one of the creature’s hands slammed into her sword, disrupting her attack before it could reach its target.

Before she could recover, another hand struck her shoulder.

Pain exploded through her body, and Katherine staggered beneath the impact. Nevertheless, she forced herself to remain upright and retaliated with a furious slash, sending a crescent of emerald fire tearing through the air.

The Webfiend Lord tilted its body slightly, allowing the attack to miss its most vital point. The flames grazed its side instead, causing far less damage than Katherine had intended.

Before she could launch another strike, the monster’s scythe swept toward her at terrifying speed.

She raised her sword to defend herself.

BOOOOOOM!

A thunderous explosion shook the battlefield as the weapons collided, sending Katherine flying backward. Her body crashed into the ground with such force that the earth shattered beneath her, forming a small crater around her.

For a moment, she couldn’t move.

Pain flooded every part of her body, making it difficult to draw a proper breath. Her sword remained in her grasp, but her fingers had gone numb, and her arms trembled from the force of the repeated impacts.

Blood covered parts of her blonde hair, with some running down the side of her face before dripping onto the broken ground. Her back hurt so badly that she felt as though her spinal cord had snapped, leaving her struggling to gather enough strength to move.

"Kh...!"

A groan escaped her mouth as Katherine slowly pushed herself up, her body trembling under the strain.

When she looked down at her hand, she discovered that it was broken. Her fingers were bent at unnatural angles, and the pain radiating from the injury was almost unbearable.

She stared at the damaged hand for a brief moment before reaching over with her other one. Then, with a sharp movement, she snapped the broken hand back into place.

CRACK!

"Ah...!"

Katherine gritted her teeth as another groan of pain escaped her mouth. Her face tightened, and her breathing briefly became ragged, but she forced herself to regain control, refusing to let the pain overwhelm her thoughts.

She had endured injuries before and faced dangerous monsters on numerous occasions. She had also survived battles that would have broken ordinary warriors, and the experience she had accumulated over the years had taught her how to keep fighting even when her body was pushed to its limits.

However, there was one thing that even her composure couldn’t change.

She knew with certainty that she wouldn’t be able to slay this creature alone, not under these circumstances and certainly not with the overwhelming difference in strength between them.

She needed backup.

And she needed it fast.

Unfortunately, there was no backup coming.

No matter how desperately she wanted reinforcements to arrive or how much she wished another powerful warrior would appear beside her, the battlefield remained empty of allies. The warriors who had accompanied her were dead, and the reinforcements she had called for still hadn’t arrived.

Meanwhile, the monster standing before her was only getting started.

Katherine tightened her grip around her sword and slowly raised her head, staring at the Webfiend Lord through her bloodied hair. She had no idea how much longer she could last against an opponent of this caliber, but she knew one thing: she couldn’t afford to fall here.

Not while the city was still in danger and countless people were depending on the warriors who remained alive.

Even if she had to fight until her body could no longer move, she would keep going.

...

Meanwhile, back in Daylight City, Orion sat calmly atop the corpses of the hundred or so Webfiends that had suddenly received a power boost.

The ground around him was littered with dead monsters, their bodies sprawled across the ruined street. Some had been sliced apart, while others had suffered such devastating injuries that there was barely anything left to identify them.

The battle had become slightly more difficult after the Webfiends’ sudden increase in strength. Their attacks were faster, their reactions sharper, and their physical attributes considerably higher than before.

Even so, they still weren’t strong enough to take him down, not when Orion had already grown so much stronger. His abilities, skills, and Origin State worked together with remarkable efficiency, and the fact that there were three of him fighting across the city made the situation even more one-sided.

Alongside the monsters he had personally slain, the Webfiends defeated by his two clones had also contributed to the EXP he was receiving. With so many enemies falling in a relatively short period, the accumulated experience had finally become enough to push him into another level.

DING!

[Congratulations, Host!]

[You have successfully reached Level 5!]

The familiar notification rang in Orion’s mind, and almost immediately, the usual boost from Origin Multiplication surged through his body.

His attributes increased as his physical strength rose, bringing improvements to his speed, defense, stamina, and constitution. His already extraordinary mental attributes climbed even higher, further enhancing his ability to process information and respond to the world around him.

Orion couldn’t help but smile.

The sensation was addictive. There was something deeply satisfying about feeling his strength increase in real time, especially when such a dramatic transformation came without the suffering that should have accompanied it.

He could feel his body growing stronger, his senses sharpening, and his mind becoming even more capable of processing everything around him. Yet, despite the absurdity of these changes, he experienced no noticeable fatigue or discomfort.

That alone was extraordinary.

In all honesty, possessing physical and mental attributes of 300 while being only a Level 5 warrior wasn’t something that should have been possible under ordinary circumstances. His body should have struggled to withstand such power, perhaps even suffering severe damage from the strain of accommodating attributes far beyond what someone at his level was supposed to possess.

After all, a warrior’s body needed time to grow strong enough to withstand the power it wielded. There was a reason attributes had limits at different levels, and reaching those limits usually required tremendous effort.

But Orion’s situation was completely different.

Although his body technically still belonged to a Level 5 warrior, it continued to withstand the power flowing through it without any apparent difficulty. His muscles weren’t tearing, and there was no unbearable pressure in his bones or any indication that his body was about to collapse under the weight of his own strength.

He didn’t even feel the slightest hint of fatigue or discomfort.

Without anyone needing to explain it to him, Orion understood that this was yet another miraculous effect of Origin State. Among all the incredible boosts and advantages he had received after his reawakening, this was undoubtedly the greatest, at least for now.

Something deep within him suggested that his talent, the Origin Summoner, might be just as broken as Origin State.

Perhaps even more so.

Unfortunately, he had no way of discovering its true potential yet.

For the Origin Summoner to fully activate, he needed to obtain a summon. Despite everything he had gone through since his reawakening, he still hadn’t managed to summon even one, leaving him unable to properly explore the abilities bound to his talent or uncover the full extent of what it could do.

For now, Origin State remained his greatest trump card.

Still, Orion wasn’t particularly worried about that. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

With a slight movement, he rose from the pile of corpses, his white clothes remaining as pristine as ever despite the bloodshed surrounding him. He then shifted his gaze toward the distant horizon, where a powerful aura had caught his attention.

It was a heavy, oppressive presence that stood out even from this distance. Unlike the weaker Webfiends he had been slaughtering, this aura carried a weight that immediately caught his interest. It felt deeper, denser, and far more threatening, as though whatever possessed it stood on an entirely different level from the monsters he had fought so far.

Orion’s smile widened slightly.

"I guess I might actually have some fun at the end of this."

His voice remained calm, but the excitement stirring within him was unmistakable. Unlike the weak Webfiends he had already slain, the aura coming from that direction was extraordinarily heavy, leaving no doubt in his mind that whatever possessed it was strong.

Extremely strong.

And what could make Orion’s blood pump faster than the prospect of fighting a powerful opponent?

The stronger the enemy, the more thrilling the battle. The more thrilling the battle, the further he could push himself, and the harder he pushed himself, the faster he could grow.

It was a simple equation, one that suited him perfectly.

Orion’s figure suddenly vanished, and at the same time, his other clone disappeared as well. Both of them moved toward the source of that dangerous aura, leaving the ruined street behind.

Only the third clone remained.

Unlike the other two, this clone had a different responsibility. It would stay near the bunker, keeping watch over the civilians and ensuring that no harm came to the people Orion had chosen to protect.

As for the other two...

They were heading straight toward the dungeon boss.