Chapter 1066: Switching Gears
Jake, who hadn't missed a beat of this twisted turn of events, cursed under his breath as he saw a recruit barely seven or eight meters behind him get s.n.a.t.c.hed up by the Pulsar on their tail. In a fit of frustration, he momentarily broke character, cleaving through both the helmet and skull of his opponent with a downward slash so ferocious that his rusted sword shattered upon impact.
"…f.u.c.k. Just my luck," he muttered, examining the considerably shortened remnants of his blade.
It was a miracle that his piece-of-s.h.i.+t sword had lasted this long, given the ferocity of his strikes and the tough hide these s.h.i.+mmers had for skin. He had to act, and fast; otherwise, in ten seconds, he'd have no choice but to go nuclear once the rest of his unit was wiped out.
'Maybe that's for the best…' Both he and Hephais sighed inwardly, exchanging a knowing nod.
The shadow a.s.sa.s.sin continued to carve a path for them, blade dancing in the dark. As for Jake, he abruptly turned, hurling what remained of his sword like a shuriken aimed straight for the eye of the Pulsar about to crush the traumatized recruit's skull.
Well, that was the plan. Instead, the giant tilted its head slightly, redirecting the sword's trajectory. The faint halo of vital energy around its face suddenly narrowed, focusing on the antic.i.p.ated point of impact.
Cling!
The broken blade instantly shattered into even more shards, leaving nothing but a slight reddish mark on the enemy's forehead. Worse still, either out of reflex or sheer rage, the Pulsar's grip on the recruit's skull intensified exponentially, collapsing the head as easily as if it were an overripe tomato.
Thus, the recruit who had already stained his shabby clothes in fear met a gruesome end, staining them once more—this time with blood and brain matter.
Still, Jake was dead set on not letting things slide further downhill. His face an icy mask of apathy, he dryly inquired of Meribelle through their telepathic link,
'When are you planning on being useful? When the only recruit still breathing besides me and Hephais turns out to be the Soulmancer King you're so pathetically trying to hide right under our nose?'
Meribelle, whose soft gray eyes had been fixated on the Inner Wall
—where an even bloodier battle raged—jolted at hearing this, her heart growing cold.
Only then did she cast a confused glance downward, letting loose a stream of curses as she took stock of the situation. In barely 75 seconds, almost the entire recruit unit had been ma.s.sacred. She'd been so busy watching the skies that she'd forgotten these recruits weren't yet fully equipped, and the enemies they faced were no ordinary foes.
As she a.s.sessed the handful of survivors still standing behind Jake, Hephais, and Sank-Uk, she instantly realized how endangered her king's true ident.i.ty had become. Even if that cunning foreigner was bluffing, this slaughter had considerably narrowed down the list of suspects.
Evaluating the battlefield below with a sweeping gaze, she finally replied with an unconvincing calm, 'If I go down there, their Lifemancer will make his move. It'll only make things worse.'
'Then what can you do? Make up your mind, fast,' Jake retorted aggressively.
Seeing the Pulsar already on the move to drain the life out of its next victim, Meribelle's thoughts raced before she telepathically shouted, 'I can immobilize it temporarily.'
'How long?' Jake fired back.
'Long enough.'
'Very well. Be ready.'
Without another word, Jake broke into a stoic sprint towards the Pulsar, a behemoth nearly twice his size. Ekho and the other soldiers were stunned as they watched him abruptly change course. But it was the blue-blooded recruit armed with an enchanted axe who was most caught off guard when Jake effortlessly s.n.a.t.c.hed the weapon from his hands, as smooth as a master pickpocket.
