Chapter 165: Best Plan
Asher shook his head; no matter how good it sounded, immunity to debuffs was useless if he couldn’t last a single round against her overwhelming strength.
The only thing to do now was to fight head-on.
’I need more intel,’ he thought, extending his hand toward the still-eating Anika.
"Get her, Knights... Tempest, use Apex Screech."
WHOOSH!!
All the shadow Knights shot forward, running at full speed toward the demon who stood completely still, eating Denise’s arm and casually ignoring their advance.
SCREECH!!!!
Tempest’s ear-splitting shriek smashed directly into her, but it didn’t stun her or leave a single mark on her crimson skin. She stood unfazed while the Knights brought their weapons smashing down on her. Just like before, short bone spikes erupted from her body with insane speed, impaling all the Knights and turning them into fine dark dust in an instant.
’Is her skin made of Titanium? No, even Titanium would get divided in half by a Mythic-Tier weapon... She also didn’t get stunned, which means negative debuffs are completely ineffective against her. I won’t cast Soul Defense either—that got destroyed by her bare claws...’ Asher narrowed his eyes, analyzing every fraction of the exchange.
’Soul Defense is absolute against physical attacks, yet she attacked directly with her claws and still destroyed it. Does she have an intrinsic ability that nullifies defense entirely?’ He sighed deeply.
All his observations were yielding little fruit, and having to fight something when he didn’t even know what skills it possessed was a terrible position to be in.
’Damn! I need to find a weakness, or anything to defeat her... And I need to stay on high alert.’ He said silently, watching as she tore another strip of flesh from the arm.
’If I don’t find a way, I will literally be her next breakfast,’ he muttered while his Knights continued to reform and attack in a endless loop.
’I got it!! There is only one way!’ He nodded to himself, turning around and walking toward the corpse of the fallen Wyvern while Anika remained preoccupied with her meal.
He stopped before the massive head of the Wyvern, drove his dagger into its skull, and pulled out a glittering SSS-Rank Evolution Stone. Asher immediately stashed the stone into his system storage.
’Even with my Knights attacking continuously, she isn’t bothered at all. Am I really that lacking in her eyes?’ He thought, his frown deepening.
𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
’Or is Denise’s arm really that delicious? What am I even thinking! I should get moving.’ He headed toward Tempest, who lowered his massive feathery head so Asher could climb on.
’Tempest, get ready, we are going all out... I am sensing countless high-energy creatures up ahead, and I think I know where the Boss is located... This is a battle to the death, and we must win.’ He stood upright on the mount, dual-wielding his Supreme Mythic-Tier daggers.
"Tempest! Are you ready!" He yelled, his gaze locked on the distant crimson demon.
SCREECH!!
Tempest spread his wide golden wings in energetic agreement.
"Now!! Run Away!!!" Asher yelled at the top of his lungs, completely throwing pride out the window.
Without a second of hesitation, Tempest shot high into the sky, flying away at maximum speed and activating Sonic Flight midair, creating a thunderous sonic boom behind them.
"Running away? After all that talk, I thought you were actually going to fight?" Anika looked up, watching the golden eagle streak across the red clouds.
"Well, I am done here anyway." She muttered, licking the fresh blood off the clean bone. She then lowered her crimson gaze to the shadow Knights, who were still stubbornly reforming and attacking.
"He sure has a lot of energy... I wonder how his body will taste."
The next moment, she vanished from the spot completely.
BOOOM!!!
The earth beneath where she stood exploded, the resulting shockwave shattering all the shadow Knights into dust once more.
____
[One thousand kilometers away.]
"Keep going, Tempest!" Asher yelled over the rushing wind.
No matter how fast Tempest was, his agility stat was still significantly lower than their new enemy’s... They weren’t safe, not by a long shot.
SCREECH!!!
Asher looked up as a flock of grotesque aerial monsters swooped down from the thunderclouds, their yellow eyes locked on them with raw bloodlust.
"SSS-Rank Red Vultures... I don’t give a fuck about you right now. Tempest, use Stealth!"
The next instant, Tempest’s massive form faded into absolute invisibility, leaving the flock of vultures shrieking in confusion as they lost their target in midair.
Asher looked back at the confused flock, a slight frown on his face. ’I thought Vultures only ate dead creatures?’
The moment he turned his head back around, his face was mere inches from Anika’s face, floating right beside him in midair.
"Why are you running away, snack?"
Purely out of instinct, Asher swung his crimson dagger in a blinding horizontal arc. To his absolute surprise, Anika winced slightly and dodged, shifting her body midair to avoid the blade.
’The hell?!! If it hadn’t been for Tempest’s passive Rider Barrier, she might have bitten my face right off,’ he muttered, staring at Anika over his shoulder as she smirked at him playfully before vanishing into thin air once more.
’Is she moving through space itself?!’ He thought, his eyes darting wildly across the surrounding sky.
’Wait... If she is immune to physical attacks, why did she go out of her way to dodge my dagger?’ He questioned internally.
’Master, that is an Elite Demon, and a General of the Demon God at that. Only Supreme Mythic-Tier weapons and above can cut through her natural defense, which is why she retreated from your blades!’ The male dagger spirit explained hurriedly in his mind.
’So that’s why she withdrew her claws back then when I slashed at her! I actually possess the weapons that can harm her... But her overall stats are simply too high for a normal clash.’ He realized, his grip on the twin hilts tightening.
"I wonder where you think you’re running to, Little Snack."
Asher snapped his head to the side, seeing Anika casually flying alongside Tempest at supersonic speeds, a terrifying grin stretched across her face that revealed rows of needle-sharp teeth.
’What The Hell?!!’