CHAPTER 84: CONNECTING SKILLS

-Swiiiiiiiiiish!

-Zeeeeeee...!

-Boooooooooooom!

As if trapped in a warzone full of modern weapons, the two of them found themselves running around the arena, avoiding the explosives and the threat to their lives.

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiii—boooooom!

The relentless barrage of the explosives was not something a human should have been able to handle.

The way the missiles were launched at them, the way those laser beams were fired at them, even the way they were being targeted precisely as they avoided the attacks made one freeze in their places.

[{ "Left, right, jump 2m." }]

Izzy gave him instructions while moving from one place to another while being covered in the protection shield.

She may not have a movement skill, but thanks to the protective barrier that was charging with her Mana, she was able to avoid the most critical of the attacks just in time.

With the help of her {Passive breathing} skill, she also maintained her stamina and kept up with the attacks coming from all nine directions.

She was quick already, but with the help of Unity’s boosts, she was able to avoid the worst and still give out the right instructions to KiRA— the one who was actually managing to fend off against the damned attacks.

-Zeeeeeeeeeeee!

The laser beams that were being shot at them were the most critical things. They could avoid a projectile coming from a known direction but to avoid a beam of light, they would need much more than just movement techniques.

Unless they could predict where the attack was going to come from, or had an ’ultra instinct’ for attacks of that kind, the attack was most certainly going to land and deal damage.

"Tsk!"

The laser wasn’t powerful enough to pierce right through their bodies, but every time they made a mistake, the inflicted pain was enough to make them stumble off their pace.

[{ "Izzy?" }]

[{ "Ugh! Sorry! It was 2.3m! My calculation was off, damn it!" }]

KiRA was following her commands as he usually does, but even though he knew she wasn’t used to the unique patterns of this thing, that kind of mistake wasn’t like her.

She seemed to be planning something different right now so he trusted her and endured the pain as he moved according to his instincts and her instructions, avoiding the attacks that he should be avoiding and using his formless sword to redirect the projectiles that could be dealt with in that manner.

[{ "Go left in 2s." }]

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!

Since she was behind, she was keeping an eye on everything that was present around them: the Crabby, the missiles, the bombs, the lasers, even the tentacles that attacked them as if they had a mind of their own.

-Booooooooooooooom!

[{ "Close call!" }]

[{ "Focus, Kai! Maintain the pace and slow down!" }]

Izzy was the brain of this battle while KiRA was the sword that protected her along with avoiding the threats.

Doing it wasn’t easy when the opponent was a high-intelligence being that could calculate everything happening on the field in real time much faster than Izzy could.

She may be smart and a savant in her own field but she wasn’t an artificial intelligence that possessed a core-system of supercomputer so powerful it could fight against an entire army simultaneously.

She didn’t have the proper skills to match up with that kind of genius just yet, limiting the potential that she could actually show in a situation such as this.

[{ "You understand I’m trying to do something, right?" }]

[{ "Yes ma’am!" }]

-Boooooooooooooooooom!

The red lights glowing on the crab’s face were menacing. Anyone looking at this scene from above would know how one sided the fight was.

Yet, the fact that the two of them were still standing and plotting something gave them extra points for being quick on their toes.

If KiRA didn’t accurately fend off against the attacks and save both of them from the explosives and the damage, the battle would have been over a long time ago.

And without her instructions and guidance, he wouldn’t have been able to do it this easily either.

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—booooooooooooooom!

With all the explosions happening around them, with each successful dodge or counter, they were able to get a tiny window to breathe and prepare themselves for the next thing.

If they didn’t use those few moments well, both of them would suffer great damages as well.

Those who challenged this relic needed to brace themselves for the worst since even as a training device, this thing was created to kill.

Without an intent to destroy the opponent, it wasn’t possible for Crabby to act as freely as it did right now.

The two of them wouldn’t have suffered so much if the intentions of all these explosives and all the ’non-lethal’ lasers was just to train them. They needed to overcome this on their own.

This crab was an enemy that they needed to fight with everything they had, which they had not been doing until just now.

{ "Recalibrating individual potential." }

But since her earlier fumble, they had been on their 100%, using everything from skills to items to take the enemy down.

[{ "It’s here!" }]

And since they were giving their all, the crab concluded that the level that it had set for them wasn’t right, forcing it to stop the attack briefly for the analysis.

[{ "Quick! We’re using FA12!! Use everything you have!" }]

[{ "...!" }]

KiRA was almost caught off guard when she put her shield down and ran straight at the crab’s body.

FA12 was one of their combination attacks that they used to use in the game, something they had never practiced in real life.

But even though it was sudden, as it reached the creature’s body, KiRA used his {Gale Steps} and moved right behind her.

-Swiiiish!

[{ "Be careful!" }]

Holding her from behind, he threw her up, and used his skill once again to jump up, build momentum, and generate kinetic energy!

[{ "Dive!" }]

Using the barrier that was protecting her as a shield, she positioned herself to face the opponent’s known weak point, the head area, while she was still midair.

-Ooooooooooooong!

At the same time she was doing all of this, since she started running on the ground, she was also condensing Mana around her, which had now strengthened her entire body!

-Ooooooooooooong!

KiRA was supposed to use his Holy power here to enhance her Mana, but since this was a sudden decision, the opposing energy would clash instead of being in harmony.

He didn’t use the Holy power but he made sure she had Unity’s buffs when, right when the Crab had detected what was happening, he used all the force that he had built up to throw Izzy at the opponent like a harpoon!

-Swiiiiiiiiiiish!

The action was near instantaneous and combined their physical skills. It was thanks to the trust they had between them that they were able to pull this off.

-Boooooooooooooom!

And, it was at this moment that, after exactly an hour long confrontation, they were able to deal any actual damage to the Crab with Izzy crashing into the weaker part of the metal skeleton.

[{ "Damn that was weak!" }]

But she wasn’t satisfied with the impact.

[{ "Jump down first, dummy!" }]

He rescued her first, and got out of there.

And then, both of them watched as the crab, finished with its new analysis, looked at them with a new, horrifying gaze...