Jack used his sword art and illusory steps to contend against the three hellhounds. Each of them was a level 34 elite. Not a big deal for him, but he also had to deal with Master’s ranged magic attacks.
Jack had cast Barrier mid-way to help him cope with Master’s ranged attacks while he fought the hellhounds. He had no problem casting magic while slashing now since he used Magic Weapon. He also stole some ranged magic shots at Master, but Master also had Barrier on. Considering Master’s HP, his Barrier could withstand even more hits than Jack’s.
Jack was distressed by Master’s arsenal of non-standard spells. There was a magic arrow spell that could change direction several times. He had dodged the arrow two times but the arrow still came back at him and finally stabbed him on the back.
When Jack tried to force his way into melee. Master cast a spell that created a small twister that picked his body up and threw him away.
In the direction where he was thrown, a large earth hand come out of the floor. This was the spell that Master had used in their first encounter. This time, though, Jack failed to dodge as he was helpless in the air. The Earth Hand grabbed him, its fingers immediately tightened around him.
When Master thought he had successfully secured his prey, three shadows jumped out from where the stairs were. Three Jacks ran towards him from different sides. The Hellhounds separated and each pounced at one of these three new Jacks. The three Jacks both executed Charge. All copies went through the hellhounds as if air.
“Body Double?” Master looked at the real Jack who was still inside the Earth Hand’s grip. Jack had cast this spell before he jumped out to save Wilted Tree from Motherboard’s invisible assault.
Master knew Jack could change position with these copies at any time and there was nothing he could do against these copies. So he floated past his flame ring and landed in front of Leavemealone. If Jack wanted to save Leavemealone, he would come here and change place with one of the copies sooner or later.
The fake Jacks ran past the flame ring without any harm. The hellhounds followed closely, but they stopped before the flame ring. Master ignored the copies but instead paid attention to the real Jack in Earth Hand’s grip. Soon, he saw the real Jack turn corporeal and slip from the grip as if his body was air. Spells were useless against a copy, that’s when he knew Jack had changed position.
The moment he noticed that, he cast a spell. Fifteen spears made of light stabbed out from under the ground around him. Each five of the fifteen spears hit one of Jack’s copies. Ten spears stabbed right through two copies, while the ones on his right hit the real Jack and pushed his body up. Damage numbers appeared.
Master frowned, the damage was much less than he expected. This was a rare elite spell learned from a technique book. With his high intelligence and high staff’s damage, each of these spears carried devastating power that could deliver around 1000 damage. Five of these spears hit Jack. Even with his high attributes, defense, and HP, the spell should already claim his life. Master had prepared to use a runic rope to tie him up once he rebirthed at this spot, but the damage that Jack received was only around 400 each spear. Combined with the previous flame ring’s damage, Jack’s still had one-fifth of his HP left.
While Master was puzzled, he noticed another surprising detail. Jack’s skin which was not covered by armor, was yellow and hard. Upon closer observation, Master realized it was golden scales that covered Jack’s skin.
“You…! You have taken my gold dragon bloodline?!” Master uttered with fury.
“Heh, it is not yours to begin with,” Jack said and executed Cross Slash. At the same time, Peniel used Fast Heal on Jack and brought his HP to a safe level again.
Master erected Magic Shield in time. Master’s five class attributes allowed him to not get staggered from the impact, but Jack followed with Flame Strike. Master used Knight’s skill Endure to resist the knockback force, he skidded a little. His other hand cast Magic Bind.
The magic ring hit Jack but it simply went through Jack like it was nothing there.
Master realized something and looked back. Jack had changed place again with the copy that had slipped behind. Master’s one hand replaced his staff with a sword and he used Power Strike. But unexpectedly, Jack disappeared when the sword almost hit.
‘He has upgraded that spell’s proficiency to the second star?’ Master was astonished. He was not puzzled if someone leveled one’s skill to the maximum. There were several ways to achieve that. But to increase a skill or spell’s star proficiency, the only way was to repeatedly use it. Even with the help of a Training Ground, he still didn’t expect one would be so diligent as to upgrade so fast. He certainly didn’t expect Jack’s game maniac habit. Jack had been relentlessly practicing all his available skills and spells whenever possible.
When Master was using Power Strike, the other Jack had arrived before Leavemealone. Jack activated Adrenaline Rush to increase his attack speed and did several quick slashes. After mastering the Formless Flowing Sword style, his sword slash was accurate even at high speed. The strappings that bound Leavemealone were undone.
Master had cast another spell and Jack’s body was enveloped by a raging fire. It was the Immolation spell that he had used on Peniel before. When Master wanted to follow up, he felt a hard impact on his stomach and had to take one step back despite his Endure skill was still active.
He turned and saw Leavemealone had stood up. There was a glowing runestone above him. Leavemealone’s fists suddenly turned blurry as he delivered an unending flurry of punches.
Master’s two staffs formed Magic Shield to block the Infinite Lightning Punches.
“Wilted, escape portal!” Jack shouted.
Wilted Tree had been chasing Motherboard. His intervention had caused Motherboard to stop playing his violin, thus canceling the buff the song provided. Motherboard had been fencing with Wilted using her rapier. Hearing Jack’s yell, Wilted saw that Leavemealone had been freed.
“Let’s finish this man first!” Leavemealone shouted as he summoned his Fire God Barrage. Twenty balls of fire came out and rushed at Master.
“Yeah, let’s finish him!” Jack cast Myriad Ensnaring Chains. Twelve crimson chains came out and restricted Master’s movement as twenty fireballs approached.
“Annoying vermins! You should all know your places…!!” Master uttered as a large bead appeared on his hand. When he crashed the bead, a shockwave radiated out and the chains binding him were obliterated.
Jack was shocked witnessing it. Whatever tool Master had used, it was much more powerful than his Liberty of Movement. Master’s tool not only freed him from binding but also destroyed the binding spell.
Master then took out another tool. When it was used, a prismatic shell appeared around him. Leavemealone’s balls of fire slammed onto this shell. Explosions of fire continued until all twenty balls were exhausted.
“Shit! He is still fine!” Jack said. He could know this from his Mana sense ability. Not only that, he could sense another person was coming up the stairs, fast. The aura of this person was dangerous. Jack did not doubt it was that Wong fellow.
“Over here!” Wilted Tree shouted. Jack turned and saw a silvery round portal beside her. Mazin had come to her side as it repelled both Motherboard and Master’s avatar, assisted by Jack’s rock golem. The Flame Salamander had been defeated by the two golems.
“We have to go! His divine treasure skills will be coming off cooldown soon,” Jack said to Leavemealone and dashed towards Wilted Tree. Leavemealone didn’t insist to continue fighting, he followed Jack.
The flame ring’s duration had finished, the hellhounds came again to block the two’s advance. Jack with his Gold Scale Armor still active, took the tank role while slashing the three with his sword arts. Leavemealone supported from his back with kicks and punches. The three hellhounds were easily pushed back.
“None of you are leaving!” Master bellowed. Jack, Leavemealone, and Wilted Tree received a headache when Master’s voice reverberated in their minds. Master again cast two spells simultaneously. However, this time, the two spell formations merged with one another after forming mid-way.
“It’s a combination spell!” Peniel exclaimed.
“Combination spell?” Jack looked back just as Master’s spell took effect. Master’s Mind Blast had caused his movement to slow down. A thick whip formed with raging fire lashed out. Jack used Magic Shield to block the whip, but the whip rolled around the shield and coiled around Jack’s body.
Jack received fire damage while getting tied. Master made a pull, Jack planted his feet down to resist. Leavemealone grabbed at the fire whip, receiving fire damage himself, and helped Jack resist the pull. The hellhounds had come back to harass them again. The two men were helpless against these hounds as they had to resist Master’s pull. Master’s five classes’ strength attribute was no joke despite four of them being magic class. Peniel cast Healing Field to keep the two alive from the hellhounds’ assaults.
While they were playing tug, a sudden roar was heard accompanied by flapping sounds. Not long after, a gargantuan gold dragon appeared beside the top of the tower.
“You wretched betrayer, taste my flame!!” Syndrillis’ voice thundered as a thick stream of golden fire spewed out from her maw at Master.
