Ghimley prided himself on being a fast runner, perhaps not the fastest of the Atrocity Mafia family, but definitely decent enough to be recognised as a capable Guard Leader. Yet, he did not expect the human soldiers to be chasing after him with much ease and even firing their ranged weapons at the same time, causing it to be quite a difficult race to run away from.
So upon realising that jumping from roof to roof was not enough, he made use of his acute senses to foretell the nooks and cranks in the alleys up ahead. Since they were able to catch up with him, Ghimley intended to outpace his pursuers through the alleys, confusing them and eventually take them out when they were tired.
Unfortunately for him, his plan had not accounted for the fact that the duo behind him was not only on par with him in terms of speed, their ranged projectiles also had the ability to stop him dead in his tracks. Never in his life, had he ever seen humans able to catch up to his speed this quickly when he noticed that they boasted themselves even further when the two female soldiers discerned that he was slowing down. There had been casters who could hasten themselves via spells, yet those would take time to chant while a guard would protect them.
Normally, he would have plenty of time to kill a mage before they could land even a single offensive spell on him. The Tiefling had thought the same to be the case for this pair of soldiers but he had clearly underestimated them and their weapons. The ranged projectiles were way too accurate for his liking. Were it not for his extra peripheral senses, he would have been brought down the instant he had fled the guard house.
"Was I wrong? Are they not mages, but specialised ranged operators?!" Ghimley thought to himself as fear started to creep into his heart for the first time in years. He changed his plan from confronting them to leading them to the next available guard house, hoping their reinforcements would be sufficient against these two elites.
Alas, he never got a chance. The next alley was destined to become his grave.
The moment Ruo Ying and Luo Bo had seen him attempt to outrun and hide within the subsequent alleys, they had recognised the need to act fast or risk losing such a valuable set of points. According to the Pandamonium App, the Guard Leader was worth as many points as his subordinates.
Luo Bo couldn't understand why the guards they had fought with previously were not as fast and agile as their leader in front of them. Her shots had already been infused with her chi and she was known to have a high rate of accuracy against moving targets.
And yet this particular enemy seemed to have eyes on his back, allowing him to barely dodge the projectiles. They barely scr.a.p.ed his magically toughened skin which he activated at the very last second to avoid the brunt of the attack.
Still, the hunt was nothing but satisfactory for Luo Bo, especially when she felt that it was the end of the line for the Guard Leader as soon as he entered the backwater alley. "Big Sis! Let's clear this as soon as possible!" Luo Bo said to Ruo Ying, who nodded her head with a soft hum as acknowledgement.
Similar to the encounter back at the guard house, Ruo Ying first charged her chains and propelled them into the alley chasing after him. It did not matter if those chained spikes missed Ghimley, all that mattered was that those chains were faster than him.
When Ghimley saw the chains come in, he evaded them easily, thinking himself safe for a moment… until he heard a series of multiple clinging sounds up ahead. It did not mean much to him at that point in time because he was busy watching out the trajectory of the chain spikes that were raining down on him.
Ghimley strongly believed that salvation was just up ahead as he remembered there was an intersection straight ahead as well as a few smaller corridors which could prevent detection. But as he avoided the latest chain spike, he realised those chain spikes were just the start of the death trap he was being lured into.
As he got closer to the intersection, he saw the horrors return in multiple folds. Chain spikes were moving at tremendous speeds as they blocked his path of escape because of the initial ricochets. In that instant, Ghimley understood he either had to bash through the spikes with brute force or go upwards.
But the skies turned dark when he raised his eyes to check for a way out. He could not make out the shade of darkness initially until it came too close for comfort. It was a torrential rain of arrows that was unavoidable no matter where he moved and the only way out was probably the soon to come resurrection.
Seeing that he would not have time to move out of the way, Ghimley resigned himself to his fate and stopped in his tracks. The chain spikes pierced through him and the rain of arrows fell with high speed velocity. His toughened skin was no match to the increased penetration power inscription that Ruo Ying had put on following Luo Bo's advice.
It could only be described as tragic, that the now dead Guard Leader had been thoroughly tricked by the duo. Most of the projectiles, as well as the chains, had been one elaborate illusion, the work of the 'Mirror Image' instant magic scroll. Cultivators primarily used those as part of a defensive manoeuvre, yet Luo Bo and Ruo Ying had creatively utilised its properties as feints for their own attacks.
Once it had become clear that the Guard Leader was more focused on running for his life and possibly leading them somewhere so he would be preoccupied to notice the mirror images, they had come up with this use. If he had not resigned himself to his fate, but risked his all, to evade or endure the non-existent attacks, he might have gained a second wind from seemingly surviving the near-death situation.
"+65 Points" The Pandamonium App showed on the screen for both cultivators. And as the body started to dissipate into nothingness, Luo Bo contacted the rest, confirming that their next rendezvous would be back at the safehouse.
