Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

Chapter 297: The Difference In Combat Experience, Crimson Lock

’Fine,’ she thought while moving around another gravity zone. ’Let’s play your game.’

She deliberately attacked in predictable patterns, conditioning Garrett to expect certain movements.

After several exchanges, his responses became automatic, his body moving to counter attacks before they fully materialized.

Then Sylvia changed everything.

Instead of slashing from the left as her body language suggested, she reversed her grip mid-swing and thrust directly forward.

The unexpected angle caught Garrett completely off guard, her Blood Sword piercing through his shoulder before he could adjust his defense.

He roared with pain and immediately created a massive gravity zone directly around his body, the increased weight forcing Sylvia to abandon her weapon or be crushed.

She chose to abandon it, leaping backward while a new Blood Sword Construct materialized in her hands.

"Hahaha. You still haven’t managed to land a critical hit on me." Sylvia teased with an evil grin. "You guild people boast about Guild power and experience, where did that go to now? Heh."

Garrett’s response was to increase the intensity of his Gravity Domain, the invisible zones becoming even more dangerous as his anger fueled his Talent.

He was definitely pissed off by Sylvia.

....

Caelus found himself constantly switching between attack types as Reign’s Adaptation Wheel activated with frustrating frequency.

Physical strikes became less effective after three consecutive hits.

Telekinetic attacks maintained their power longer, but Reign was beginning to read the patterns.

Even the Ancient Dragon God’s manifestations were gradually losing their impact as Reign’s body learned to absorb their force.

Intent Sense continued feeding him crucial information, warning him of attacks before they launched and detecting subtle shifts in Reign’s killing intent.

Without that constant stream of awareness, he would have already taken serious damage.

His Talent isn’t perfect, Caelus analyzed while dodging another crimson-coated punch. The adaptation isn’t guaranteed, sometimes it activates quickly, sometimes it doesn’t activate at all.

That uncertainty was the key.

Caelus began deliberately mixing his attack patterns, never using the same approach more than twice in a row.

A telekinetic strike followed by a physical combo followed by a Fighting Spirit burst followed by another telekinetic attack from a completely different angle.

The constant variation prevented Adaptation Wheel from building consistent resistance, keeping Reign off-balance despite his superior level.

But it also prevented Caelus from building momentum.

Every time he found a rhythm that worked, he had to abandon it before Reign could adapt.

The fight became a war of attrition rather than a contest of raw power.

Just then, Reign and Garrett exchanged a glance across the battlefield, a silent communication passing between experienced players.

They immediately changed their approach.

Instead of fighting separately, they began coordinating their attacks, forcing Caelus and Sylvia to deal with overlapping attacks.

Garrett’s Gravity Domain expanded to affect areas where Caelus was fighting, creating invisible obstacles that disrupted his footwork at critical moments.

Reign took advantage of every disruption, his attacks arriving precisely when Caelus’s movement was restricted.

Simultaneously, Reign’s superior speed allowed him to occasionally support Garrett, forcing Sylvia to defend against attacks from unexpected angles.

The teamwork between the guild leaders demonstrated exactly why experienced fighters were dangerous when working together.

Caelus and Sylvia responded by tightening their own coordination.

When Gravity Domain restricted Caelus’s movement, Sylvia would immediately pressure Garrett to force him to reduce the zone’s size.

When Reign tried to support Garrett, Caelus’s Telekinesis would create distortions that bought Sylvia time to recover.

The battlefield became a complex movement of four fighters, each constantly adjusting to counter the others’ strategies.

Neither side could gain a decisive advantage.

A minute passed, though they felt like hours.

All four of them showed signs of accumulated damage, their breathing heavier and their movements slightly slower than when the battle began.

Caelus had taken several hits that would have killed ordinary players, his Ascended Body’s durability the only reason he remained standing.

Sylvia’s regeneration had already healed multiple wounds, though each healing consumed stamina she couldn’t easily replace.

Reign’s adaptation had partially activated against several of Caelus’s attack types, reducing their effectiveness without eliminating them entirely.

Garrett’s Gravity Domain had become smaller as his mana reserves depleted, the invisible zones no longer covering as much area.

Intent Sense suddenly screamed another warning, more intense than anything Caelus had felt during the entire fight.

Extreme danger.

Caelus’s eyes widened as he saw Reign and Garrett moving into position, their powers synchronizing in a way that suggested they had practiced this technique of joint attack many times before.

Garrett’s Gravity Domain suddenly inverted, creating a zone of reduced gravity that launched both Caelus and Sylvia into the air.

Without solid ground beneath their feet, their mobility became severely limited and Reign Blood reign seemed to have placed a restriction of Caelus.

He couldn’t use telekinesis!

"Surprised, Little Pup?" Reign Bloodfang grinned. "You have been hit with my Crimson Lock. Its a skill that allows me to temporarily lock a person’s power and you cannot see it coming till I activate it and all I need to do is touch an opponent’s torso 5 times in a row."

As he explained, reign exploded upward with crimson energy coating his entire body, his speed reaching levels he hadn’t displayed before.

[Skill Activated: Crimson Lion’s Ascension]

His fist connected with Caelus’s guard while simultaneously, Garrett’s halberd swept toward the airborne Sylvia.

The coordinated assault was perfectly timed, impossible to fully defend against.

Caelus felt his arms go numb from the impact as he was sent crashing toward the ground.

Sylvia barely managed to deflect Garrett’s halberd with her Fighting Spirit, but the force still sent her spinning through the air.

Both of them hit the ground hard, creating small craters where they landed.

Reign and Garrett landed gracefully, their expressions showing satisfaction at finally landing clean hits.

"That’s the difference between amateurs and professionals," Reign said coldly. "Raw power means nothing without experience."

Caelus slowly pushed himself to his feet, his arms still hurting from the earlier impact.

Beside him, Sylvia rose with her grin somehow even wider than before, blood trickling from a cut on her forehead.

"That actually hurt," she said with a pained yet slightly scary look on her face.

.....

[A/N: don’t forget to leave some Powerstones and Comments... they’re basically the life support keeping this book alive.]