Chapter 97: Orion Join The Battle

Chapter 94

What was happening?

Katherine asked herself the question as her gaze shifted from one figure to the other. No matter how many times she looked, her eyes weren’t deceiving her. The two white-haired figures standing before her were indeed the same person, sharing identical faces, stature, hair, and even multicoloured eyes.

A clone, perhaps?

That was the only explanation she could think of, but even then, something about the two figures felt strange.

Why did they both radiate such a calm, domineering aura?

It wasn’t simply a matter of strength. There was something about their presence that made it difficult to look away, as though the very air around them naturally yielded to their existence. Neither seemed remotely concerned about the terrifying monster they had just sent flying.

They looked remarkably calm and composed, as though the situation unfolding before them was nothing worth worrying about.

Katherine’s thoughts suddenly came to a halt.

Wait...

Her mind finally returned to what had happened a few seconds earlier, and her eyes widened as she recalled the unbelievable scene.

Did they just overpower the Webfiend Lord?

She immediately turned toward the distance where the dungeon boss had disappeared.

The monster had been standing over her, ready to deliver the killing blow. She had already accepted her death, yet, in the blink of an eye, something had struck the creature with such overwhelming force that it had been sent flying into the distance.

And the two figures responsible for that incredible feat were standing right in front of her.

Katherine couldn’t help wondering how much force would have been necessary to accomplish something like that.

She had fought the Webfiend Lord herself and knew exactly how terrifying its strength was, how difficult it was to follow its movements, and how easily its attacks could shatter her defenses.

Even after unleashing her strongest technique and sacrificing almost everything she had, she had barely managed to sever its head.

And that hadn’t even been enough to kill it.

The creature had simply regenerated.

Yet these two had sent it flying with a single attack.

Katherine swallowed, struggling to process the difference between her own desperate battle and the effortless display of strength she had just witnessed.

However, she didn’t allow herself to become too optimistic.

The Webfiend Lord wasn’t dead yet.

She knew that much.

And, as though the monster had heard her thoughts, a furious roar suddenly erupted from the distance.

GRAAAAAHHHHH!

The sound shook the air, carrying a wave of rage that spread across the battlefield.

Katherine’s heart tightened.

The monster was still alive.

But could they really handle it on their own?

Her gaze returned to the two white-haired figures.

She didn’t know who they were, where they had come from, or how they possessed such incredible strength. However, if they had managed to overpower the Webfiend Lord once, perhaps they really could defeat it.

Still, she couldn’t simply sit back and watch.

I have to help them.

Katherine planted her hand against the ground and attempted to rise, but the moment she moved, a sharp wave of pain surged through her entire body.

"Kh...!"

Her face twisted as she struggled against the pain. She tried again, forcing her trembling legs to support her weight, but her body had already been pushed far beyond its limits.

Her mana pool was empty, her stamina had been drained, and her body was riddled with injuries. Even the healing potion she had consumed earlier had done little more than delay her collapse.

She could barely stand, let alone fight.

Nevertheless, Katherine forced herself upright.

Her partially chipped sword remained in her grasp, its damaged blade reflecting the light as she slowly advanced toward the two figures.

One step, then another.

Every movement sent a fresh wave of pain through her body, making her injuries increasingly difficult to ignore. Her consciousness began to fade in and out, and the world around her seemed to grow distant as the sounds of the battlefield became muffled. Darkness crept into the edges of her vision, threatening to swallow her at any moment.

But she continued forward.

She had to do something, anything. She couldn’t allow these two mysterious warriors to face the monster alone when she still had a sword in her hand.

Unfortunately, her body had already reached its limit.

Her foot slipped, and her remaining strength abandoned her as her body tilted forward.

Before Katherine could hit the ground, however, someone caught her.

A strong arm supported her weakened body, preventing her from collapsing onto the battlefield.

Katherine slowly lifted her eyes and found herself staring directly into a pair of multicoloured eyes, their rainbow-coloured irises shimmering with an extraordinary brilliance.

For some reason, the moment her gaze met those eyes, a strange sensation washed over her.

It was difficult to explain, almost impossible to put into words.

The feeling was unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was as though an immense weight had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders, replacing the fear and desperation that had been suffocating her with an unexpected sense of relief.

Belief.

Hope.

She didn’t understand why. She didn’t know who this person was or what he was truly capable of, yet as she looked into those multicoloured eyes, a thought surfaced in her mind, one she would never have believed could occur to her under such circumstances.

He will win.

The conviction came so naturally that it startled her.

It wasn’t based on any logical assessment of the situation. She had no information about this mysterious warrior’s abilities, nor did she know whether he was truly capable of defeating the Webfiend Lord.

But somehow, she believed he would.

"Who are y..."

Katherine tried to ask a question, but she couldn’t finish her sentence. Her eyelids grew unbearably heavy, and the last fragments of her consciousness slipped away.

She fainted.

Orion looked down at the unconscious woman in his arms.

Without wasting any time, he extended his telekinesis around her body, carefully supporting her with an invisible force to ensure that her injuries wouldn’t worsen.

He couldn’t afford to let her remain here, not with the battle that was about to unfold.

Even if Katherine had managed to survive until now, leaving her anywhere near the battlefield would put her life at risk. The shockwaves from their upcoming fight alone could easily finish off someone in her condition.

He needed to get her somewhere safe.

"Take her to the Lord Bunker. I’ll handle this one in the meantime."

Orion spoke calmly, directing his words toward his other self.

The second Orion nodded without hesitation. He carefully took Katherine from the original’s grasp, adjusting his hold to ensure that her injured body wouldn’t suffer any unnecessary movement.

Then he bent his knees slightly, lowering his center of gravity as he assumed a sprinting posture.

DING!

[Flash Skill Activated!]

The next instant, the white-haired figure vanished.

He shot across the battlefield in a blur, carrying the unconscious Katherine with him as he raced toward the Lord Bunker.

The original Orion remained where he was.

Slowly, he turned his head toward the Webfiend Lord, which was now approaching from the distance.

The monster advanced at a measured pace, but every step carried an oppressive weight. The surrounding air seemed to grow heavier as its aura spread across the battlefield, and the countless eyes covering its grotesque head glowed with an intense red light.

It was furious.

Extremely furious.

The fact that a human had dared to send it flying was already an unforgivable insult. However, seeing that same human standing before it without the slightest trace of fear only made its rage worse.

"Human..."

The Webfiend Lord’s voice rang out as it took another step forward.

"Human..."

Its countless eyes narrowed, their blood-red glow intensifying as it stared at Orion.

Then it repeated the word a third time.

"HUMAN!"

BOOOOM!

Its aura erupted outward, releasing a violent wave of pressure that swept across the battlefield, tearing through the ground and sending loose debris tumbling away.

The Webfiend Lord raised its hands.

Thin, metallic webstrings burst from its body, shooting upward in a torrent before twisting and coalescing into numerous weapons.

Swords.

Daggers.

Rapiers.

Circular blades.

Scythes.

One weapon after another took shape, each forged from the same silvery webstrings that had already proven capable of cutting through Katherine’s defenses.

The monster’s two foremost limbs continued to hold the spear and scythe it had used earlier, while the ten elongated hands extending from its back each reached for one of the newly formed weapons.

Within moments, the dungeon boss was armed with a dozen deadly weapons, every single one radiating a menacing aura of malice that matched the hatred burning in its countless eyes.

"I will kill you."

The Webfiend Lord spoke with such deep hatred that its words sounded more like a curse than a threat.

Orion merely watched.

Then he extended both hands, and two daggers appeared in them.

One was blue, while the other was red.

The blue blade gleamed with a cold, profound light, while the red dagger seemed to carry the heat of an eternal flame. Both weapons rested comfortably in Orion’s hands, their familiar weight filling him with anticipation.

He raised his gaze toward the monster.

"Bring it on."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"And don’t disappoint me."

Ever since he had begun to understand just how ridiculous his transformation had made him, Orion had been itching to test the full extent of his newfound strength.

He wanted to know what he could truly do, how fast he could move, how much force he could exert, and how effectively he could combine his abilities.

Most importantly, he wanted to discover his new limits.

Unfortunately, every battle he had fought against the Webfiends so far had failed to provide a satisfying answer. Even when the monsters had suddenly grown stronger, they still hadn’t been able to push him far enough.

He had slaughtered them too easily.

They were nothing more than opponents he could use to familiarize himself with his abilities, but none had forced him to unleash everything he possessed.

In short, they had been nothing less than a disappointment.

But this one was different.

The Webfiend Lord was a Level 20 dungeon boss, a creature whose attributes and combat capabilities were far beyond those of the ordinary Webfiends he had been slaughtering throughout Daylight City.

Surely, it wouldn’t disappoint him in the same way.

There was only one way to find out.

Orion’s smile widened slightly as he waited for the monster to make its move.

The next instant, the Webfiend Lord attacked.

One second, it was at least ten metres away. The next, it was right in front of him.

Its speed was terrifying.

The scythe in its foremost hand swept toward Orion’s neck while the multiple weapons held by the hands on the left side of its body struck out simultaneously. The attacks came from several directions at once, their combined trajectories forming a deadly web designed to leave him with no room to escape.

Orion reacted immediately.

He tilted his head to the side, allowing the scythe to pass close enough to stir his white hair. At the same time, he twisted his torso, slipping between the first wave of weapons as they tore through the space where he had been standing.

His movements were smooth and precise.

The instant an opening appeared, his red dagger lunged forward, moving like a roaring flame.

A faint shimmer distorted the air around the blade as it passed, and the temperature rose noticeably in its wake.

SHING!

The dagger pierced the Webfiend Lord’s skull.

Its sharp tip entered through one side of the grotesque head and emerged from the other.

For an ordinary monster, such an attack would have been devastating.

But Orion wasn’t dealing with an ordinary monster.

The Webfiend Lord’s skull began to mend almost immediately, its damaged flesh and web-like tissues twisting together to close the wound.

At the same time, the weapons held by the hands on its right side struck toward Orion.

He raised his daggers and knocked the incoming weapons aside.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Metallic impacts rang through the air as his blades collided with the silvery weapons. Orion moved quickly enough to redirect several attacks, while the remainder passed him harmlessly as he twisted his torso and shifted between their trajectories.

However, the Webfiend Lord wasn’t finished.

One of its massive weapons, an axe held by an elongated hand behind its body, suddenly swept toward Orion’s groin.

The attack was vicious, with its angle and trajectory clearly intended to split him in two from below.

Orion’s expression remained unchanged.

He simply kicked forward.

A concentrated wave of telekinetic force erupted from his leg, slamming directly into the Webfiend Lord’s chest.

BOOOOM!

The impact disrupted the monster’s balance and slowed its momentum. Its upper body jerked backward, and its footing faltered for a fraction of a second.

That was all Orion needed.

He tightened his grip around the blue dagger and moved.

DING!

[Flash Skill Activated!]

The world seemed to slow down.

The Webfiend Lord’s movements became sluggish in Orion’s perception, and the weapons rushing toward him appeared to crawl through the air.

Orion’s body surged forward.

His twin daggers flashed.

SLASH! SLASH!

The blue and red blades tore through the Webfiend Lord’s foremost limbs, cutting through flesh, bone, and web-like tissue with terrifying ease.

Both limbs were severed.

But Orion didn’t stop there.

His body twisted, and he shot past the monster in a blur of white. Before the Webfiend Lord could fully react, Orion appeared behind it, his daggers moving once again.

SHING!

Another limb fell.

SLASH!

Then another.

Orion’s blades danced through the air, carving deep wounds across the creature’s body as he moved around it at extraordinary speed. He cut through its limbs, tore into its torso, and left deep, bloody gashes across its grotesque frame.

The monster’s weapons fell from its severed hands, clattering against the ground as its body was ravaged by a relentless storm of attacks.

For a brief moment, Orion’s figure seemed to split into multiple afterimages, each flash of white followed by another wound.

Every movement of his daggers left behind a trail of blood and shredded flesh, and by the time he finally stopped, the Webfiend Lord had suffered a level of destruction that would have killed almost any ordinary monster several times over.

Then a mighty growl erupted from the creature.

"GRAAAAAHHHH!"