Chapter 86: The Worldbreaker Missile, Puppet Knights

The combination between Narrow Path and Distance-Damage Amplification was as potent as he expected.

And just a bit more.

The projectile exited the Narrow Path so fast that the pressure crushed the monsters around it before the air just combusted.

The path Faust had charted took the attack through the center of the monster army towards the southern gate.

All Faust and every other player saw was a blue line flash through the dark sea of monsters, followed by a bone-rattling explosion that pushed even Faust off his feet.

His hand snapped out and grabbed Nirvana’s. Pathfinder predicted she would be blown into the air. Dust and force blinded him, blasting through the village so hard buildings toppled.

His feet skidded against the ground as he tried to anchor himself and Nirvana in the aftermath of his attack.

Note to self: never use that shit close to me. One day I’ll try something and end up killing myself and my opponent by mistake.

The combination between the two Schema was too powerful. He couldn’t help but imagine this with Fireball.

Once the explosion slowed down a bit, he pulled Nirvana into his arms and held her close. A few seconds later all that was left was heat and roaring winds.

Nirvana snuggled into his neck. "I like this, but you should warn me before you do that. You just erased all the skeletons I spent over ten minutes spawning in."

Her ghosts were untouched though, glowing silver through the dust and smoke. Their groans sounded a bit confused. Like they were asking each other what the hell just happened.

"Sorry about that," Faust whispered, still in awe of the attack. Now that it was an ultimate move.

He felt the Distance-Damage Amplification ability was on cooldown after that attack. It was like a meter, and right now his meter was maxed out. It needed to cool down a little before he could amplify projectile strength again.

The ability might make an archer out of him or at least, make him use his summon card more. He hadn’t used his two summons in his battle against Negan, because of the Pathfinder’s pure speed and deadliness.

They would have been eviscerated in seconds. But if he could use it with the summon...

"We should get to the Safe zone now," Nirvana said, begrudgingly leaving his arms. "Can your skill get you there?"

"Nope." Shadow Step only worked within thirty meters. "Go ahead of me, I’ll get there."

Nirvana didn’t question him. She erupted into dark mist, turning into a bat and rising into the smoke-filled skies. Her ghosts disappeared with her.

Faust listened to the silence for a moment, impressed with himself, then took off. His form flickered across the charred world in a steady sprint.

He could see the glowing line it carved into the world on his right, riding towards the southern gates, which had been reduced to rubble. Most monsters on that side laid in broken, burnt heaps; anything that had been in the path of his projectile was less than ash.

The monsters on his left were luckily, only blown away or disoriented. Interestingly, anything on the opposite side of the golden dome was protected from the explosions. The players had been blown into the dome.

But Faust wouldn’t pretend some of them weren’t dead.

Casualties were a sign of sloppiness to him, but unavoidable. There was no way he could know how strong the attack would be.

He continued towards the Safe zone with no remorse. Most monsters were stunned but those steel knights were still ready for a fight.

They came from the dark, smoke-filled rubble. They resembled medieval knights, wearing these red and black coats over their armor. Their faces and necks were hidden by smiling gold masks and chainmail.

They moved eeriely similar to humans, but their limbs were longer and their joints turned in every direction. Faust carefully watched the six rising knights.

Appraise.

[Knight Puppet]

[Level: 6]

[Combat Power: 700]

[Details: Protectors of the Child Queen of Hanmore. They are durable and adaptable in combat—the mark of exceptional craftsmanship.]

That sounded interesting. Faust attacked them. His axe slashed into one faster than it could even raise its weapon.

"Ohhh," Faust said in surprise.

His axe slammed into the metal but didn’t rip the monster in half. Its Constitution was incredible. It had been a while since he met anything that wasn’t ripped apart by his direct hits.

Even with Faust’s axe in its chest, the Puppet knight still swung its halberd. Faust pushed off the ground, vaulting over the attack and the knight’s head.

With his inhuman strength, he pulled the knight off the ground mid-air. Then he flipped, swinging it through the air, and slammed it into the ground.

BANG!

He ripped his axe out of the puppet’s body with a Dash, dodging an attack from another knight at the same time.

They were quick, but not as quick as he was. The same thing with strength. But their durability was greater than his for sure.

He lashed his Slime Tether out and it stuck to the chest of one of the knights. He pulled it towards him while retracting his tether, but it wasn’t yanked towards him like he expected.

The knight’s steel boots dug deep grooves into the earth, but it resisted his strength and it even slashed Faust’s tether from its chest.

Too strong for me to do that.

The other four knights closed in on him and slashed down at the same time. Their halberds covered all angles.

Too bad Faust could make his own angles.

He dove into a Narrow Path and reappeared behind them. He slashed through the legs of one of the knights, keeping the blow shallow.

But the knight didn’t fall. Its knees twisted and it staggered unnaturally, turning to face him. That smiling mask felt like a taunt.

Faust back up slowly. The knights moved to encircle him again, but then they stopped. Their bodies shuddered.

Instantly the formation began to change.

"Already adapting?" Faust whispered with a smile. These guys were fun.

More worrying than their adaptation, the knight Faust had slammed into the ground had gotten up. Its entire left side was dented and twisted, but the metal popped and turned back into place.

The same was happening to the legs of the knight he had slashed out.

They were healing slowly and adapting to how he fought.

"How am I supposed to kill you guys?" Faust wondered. He had options, but he wanted to know how the system expected players to do it.

So he raised his axe with a business smile. "Let’s get to know each other."