Chapter 41: I Don’t Have A Watch, Master
Rhea wasn’t shocked that her archer had been taken out right before her eyes. It was surprising, but not enough to shock her because all along, she knew exactly where Arc had been hiding all this while. Every single move he made interfered with her thin layers of blood strings spread across the island and sent a signal to her.
She was surprised by the fact that the intruder was at a considerable distance and had sent his dagger across the island to kill Sarah, with a speed that far exceeded the speed at which her blood strings relayed movement signals.
Sarah’s head was already rolling across the floor before the signal of the weapon reached her.
She wasn’t ignorant and knew the weapon used to carry out the attack was of a formidable tier, and what followed next only confirmed her suspicion.
The Global Announcement.
A Starlight-tier weapon had been used, but that wasn’t her greatest fear. It was the dreaded realization after piecing all the information together and coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t just up against a random pro player... she was up against the most dreaded player in the starter zone. The same player who had triggered even the Gods of this world to make a major adjustment to restore the balance of the Golden Age.
She was up against the same player who created legendaries like they were scrap metal and was fully loaded with Starlight-tier equipment.
She couldn’t understand it.
If he possessed that level of equipment, why hadn’t he used it already?
Why take such risks?
Why approach her island personally when he could send his lackeys, probably decked out in legendary gear?
Why fight at close range when he could utterly tear down her island from a safe distance with the level of equipment he had?
Unless...
She was already on her feet, staring into the distance and at Jacob, who was confused by the sudden death of his two teammates when he hadn’t even spotted the enemy.
He was distracted, staring back at her for guidance, when she saw the enemy creep up behind him, kick the back of his legs to send him crashing to his knees, and grab his hair, lifting his head to stare at her as the cold metal of his blade kissed Jacob’s neck.
She didn’t necessarily mourn the deaths of her teammates, especially when they were weak and couldn’t keep up with her speed of growth.
But that demonic smile on the man’s face directed at her as he played with his dagger around the petrified Jacob’s throat made her feel small and weak for the first time.
It was almost like he was taunting her. And that was when she got her answer.
This player wasn’t taking her seriously, not for once. He was only toying with her because he knew victory was inevitably his.
For someone who had always sought out players who could match her strength, she wasn’t thrilled by this player one bit and wanted to end the battle as quickly as possible, knowing fully well who she was dealing with now.
He might be a God-tier player, but she was going to prove to him that she was more than that, because the moment he stepped onto her island, the battle was already half won by her.
’Has she already caught on?’ Arc mused with a frown to himself, as his jaws burned from smiling too hard like a maniac.
He was taunting Rhea into thinking he had the upper hand so she would reveal all the cards and tricks she had up her sleeves.
He was fully aware he was dancing on a minefield that could explode with a single misstep. But what he truly needed was to trigger a chain reaction across the minefield, and if he could survive that, victory was his.
He couldn’t see her expression, as her face was hidden beneath her gray hood. And the longer she stood staring back at him without a solid reaction, the more unpredictable her next move became.
Arc was just about to drop the act and change strategies when Rhea raised her hand and clenched her fist.
In that moment, thin lines of red strings covered the entire island like laser beams. But they didn’t stop at revealing themselves; they quickly began enclosing around Arc and his hostage.
All the blood strings surrounding the island were moving in on him to trap him, but instead of jumping out of harm’s way, Arc swiftly pulled out the Wall of Eternity and strapped it onto his back just as the blood threads began wrapping him up in a tight cocoon.
He was aware that Constitution wasn’t his best attribute and used the Starlight shield to make up for it before he was trapped.
The blood strings didn’t discriminate and wrapped up his hostage in a cocoon as well, tightening around both of them until Jacob was cut into tiny pieces and his remains scattered across the floor.
Arc felt the blood threads sting his skin, but they couldn’t cut through. He simply let the phenomenon take place as he slowly counted down and listened for when the threads stopped moving, which would signal he was fully wrapped in the blood threads spread across the island.
Rhea watched as her enemy was wrapped in a bundle of blood threads until there was nothing left, completely consuming him. But for some reason, she hadn’t heard the familiar kill notification like she’d gotten from Jacob.
Not that it mattered, because she was confident in the strength of her blood threads. The other player might have thick skin, but he should be unable to break through the bindings.
"So much for being arrogant," she hissed as she dug her fingers into her side pouch and pulled out a bunch of needles.
"This... is the unfortunate end of a legend," she said with a smirk as she swung her needles toward the thick blood cocoon.
"Seraphina, guess what time it is?" Arc asked telepathically.
"I don’t have a watch, Master," the overgrown house cat replied with a womanly voice in his mind.
Arc’s lips twitched.
"It’s time for what we discussed earlier. Now do it."
Lady Seraphina didn’t waste any more time as she materialized outside the blood cocoon, baring her claws as she zipped around Arc in an instant, shredding the blood threads apart and freeing Arc from the bindings.
Rhea’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected turn of events, but before she could react, the cat spun around and transformed into a woman in black garments, her hands flashing through the air as she precisely caught every single one of the needles and flung them right back at her.
At the same time, Arc pulled out the Chain Blade of Zar and activated his latest skill with a wide grin.
’Formless Heaven-Defying Path’
