Chapter 708 Battle Arrangements
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“One.” 𝘣𝘦𝑑𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝑙.𝘯𝑒𝘵
“Two.”
“Three!”
Right after Shin the other members of the group simultaneously closed their eyes aside from Shin. And just like what he was expecting, none of the statues made a move yet as they were able to sense that he still had his eyes open.
After confirming that they couldn’t fool these statues with such a simple trick, Shin also started closing his eyes while also maximizing the effects of this ‘Sensing Circle’. And with his enhanced senses provided with that skill, he was able to perceive any kind of movements within the affected area of the territorial skill.
Swoosh!
Then the statues immediately made their moves the moment he closed his eyes. The knight nearest to them swung its sword in a horizontal manner, trying to sweep all of them with a single strike.
On the other hand, the knight with a morning star quickly swung its weapon a couple of times before sending the spiked ball at them.
And that was not the end, Shin also sensed that a few more statues made their moves and tried to attack them from a distance. But only the ones with the means of attacking them from afar. The other statues with melee weapons remained unmoved and just stared at the group.
After gathering enough information that they could use, Shin quickly cast a dome-shaped barrier around the group to protect them from the incoming attacks.
‘Slayer Skill: (Modified) Eclipse Pulse’
Ding!
Cling! Cling!
Ding!
The attacks of those statues were quite strong as they were able to push Shin’s barrier on the verge of collapse. The cracks on the surface of the barrier were slowly spreading and starting to affect the sturdiness that the barrier had.
Fortunately, Shin was fast enough to respond and quickly snapped with his fingers and made the barrier explode.
‘Slayer Skill: (Modified) Eclipse Counter’
Boom!
With the explosion of the barrier, a powerful shockwave was sent in every direction. At the same time, strong magical energy was accompanying the shockwave to further enhance its strength and amplify its power.
Bang!
But surprisingly, Shin sensed that his counterattack didn’t affect the statues even for a bit despite how strong the force behind his attack was.
“Are they immune to magic?” muttered Shin before telling the others to open their eyes so that they could start preparing.
After sharing his thoughts about the statues with the group, Shin then started making some arrangements. “I think we really need to fight them with our eyes closed.”
He was about to say something but he immediately swallowed back the words that he was about to say and quickly turned to Chaotic Luck.
He organized his thoughts for a couple of moments before saying. “I want to try something again, so I think we need to close our eyes again.”
“Again?” said the others simultaneously, showing a clear sign of complaint.
Shin ignored the tone that they had and immediately continued. “This time, I want Chaotic Luck to use his shared vision with a couple of his undead monsters to observe the battle through them.”
“I am not sure if this is going to be effective but I think it is worth a try since undead monsters are not considered as a living thing,” he added with a smirking tone.
Hearing those words, the others couldn’t help but nod their heads before going back to a formation.
Shin looked at them for another time before giving some instruction. “Owen, I need you to cast your Iron Wall skill to block everything from your side while I will handle the rest. Keep your mind and ears sharp.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know it already. You don’t have to repeat it again,” said Owen while waving his hand at Shin.
After that, Shin counted up to three once again before they closed their eyes. And just like what he thought, the statues immediately attacked them right after they did that.
“Now!” shouted Shin to Owen and quickly positioned himself in front of the spiked head of the morning star before swinging his sword at it.
Clang!
With a powerful swing, he redirected the trajectory of the spiked head towards the other knight statue with a sword and was currently in the middle of swinging it to Akailu.
But given that the spiked head was heading in its direction, the knight statue had no other choice but to abandon the idea of attacking the Beastmaster and block the incoming attack instead.
Cling!
After that, Shin quickly jumped in another direction and deflected a magic arrow instead. And while he was busy with the things on his side, Owen was currently enduring the attacks that were thrown at him.
Those heavy pounding and powerful strikes really pushed him backward despite the protection of his ‘Iron Wall’ skill provided. Fortunately, his current equipment was top-notch which was why he was able to endure all of them without a problem.
In the meantime, Chaotic Luck couldn’t help but be dumbfounded due to what he was currently witnessing.
Forget about Owen since all he needed to do was to cast a skill and stand in his place while blocking the attacks of those statues from his side. But it was a completely different matter when it came to Shin.
It was already amazing how Shin was able to perceive his surroundings quite clearly while also responding to the attacks that the statues threw at them pretty accurately. It was as if closing his eyes didn’t affect his battle prowess at it. His current ability seemed to have no difference compared to how he fought normally.
The battle continued a few more moments before Shin asked them to open their eyes. And the moment they did that, all of the statues went back to their original places in an instant, acting as if not thing happened.
After that, Shin turned to Chaotic Luck and immediately asked. “What are your thoughts? Do you think that you can fight them that way?”
Chaotic Luck thought a couple of moments before nodding his head and saying with full confidence. “I think there shouldn’t be a problem. I can just act as controlling my undead monsters remotely from a distance.”
That was more than enough of a reply for Shin and quickly turned his head toward Owen and Akailu. And understanding the meaning of his gaze, the two quickly respond.
“If it is just protecting, then I also have no problem doing it. I can just treat it as one of my special training for my special talent,” said Owen smirkingly as he tried to flaunt his ‘Extreme Sense’ talent.
Unfortunately, no one was interested in it anymore. After all, Shin still bested him in their last battle, so it was pretty obvious which one was better.
“I may not be able to show my best without summoning my monsters or without fusing with them, but I can at least help in defense given my passive skills,” said Akailu, on the other hand.
“I’m sure Cloe will not have any problems at healing with her eyes closed,” said Shin before turning his head to their team’s priest while asking. “Am I right?”
Cloe giggles a little before responding. “You are complimenting me too much but it is indeed a piece of a cake.”
The corner of Shin’s mouth twitched a little when he heard those words before saying to himself. ‘I don’t know if she is acting humble or not.’
Then it was Ithilien’s turn to receive her task. “Since Ithilien can’t assist us with her archery this time, we need her to focus on casting her spells instead.”
Shin paused for a moment to have a quick look at his surroundings before continuing. “Given the current environment that we are in, I think it is the best opportunity for you to showcase the abilities that you receive after defeating that Corrupted Elderwood.”
*(He is referring to the monster that Ithilien and Charlotte fought during their first music video)
Hearing that, Ithilien found it reasonable and immediately agreed with him. She then tried to check the available skill set that she could use before nodding her head.
“Elves have a Racial Trait that influences your magical senses, right?” asked Shin for clarification.
Ithilien nodded her head once again and immediately added. “I think I will be able to sense any kind of movements within the 5-meter radius around me, but it will consume a lot of mana maintaining it, so I can’t use it for a long time.”
“It is fine. All you need to do is to restrict the movements of the statues and assist Owen and Akailu at holding the defensive line,” said Shin pointing to Chaotic Luck. “The two of us will do all of the hard work this time anyway.”
Hearing those additional words, Chaotic Luck felt like he wanted to cry while cursing Shin inside. ‘Why does it always have to be me?’
And immediately after receiving the respective task from Shin, the group immediately assumed a battle formation and got ready for the battle.
…