The arrows pierced right through the chests of some of the Armored Spirit Archers and the heads of the others and came out of their back and the back of their heads, respectively, opening up an egg-sized deep hole in each of their metallic bodies. However, even after all that, the arrows were still to reach the end of their Flights.
They stopped only after their arrowheads pierced into the corridor's walls, fragments of stone and dust sprinkling downwards, staining the velvety red carpet on the floor.
This showed how powerful they were to Roy. He felt that he was playing DMC 5 in hell mode. It would be game over for him if any one of them hit him a single time.
Not even a single one of their attacks was able to reach Roy's body, however, because he had become a ghost in time.
He thanked himself for coming up with a plan in time that not only saved his hide but also fucked them up.
Then, he, who was now literally the shadow of his former self, a small pool of darkness, moved, sliding off the carpet and crawling to the edges of the corridor, where he shook hands with his bosom buddies, the veils of the night, also known as shadows, hugging and intertwining with them.
He became one with them.
It was now impossible to differentiate him from the darkness of the corridor now.
"This… This is too ridiculous!"
All of the Armored Spirit Archers stood dumbfounded, unable to make sense of what just happened.
Divine-grade steel was used to create their husk.
Only steel that was melted to liquid and purified by a level 7 or above Magic Fire and then solidified using Force could be graded as Divine.
Made of such steel, they couldn't be pierced by weapons that weren't coated in Force.
That's why they were so arrogant when dealing with Roy.
He didn't have the capability to produce Force. They could sense it. They believed he wouldn't be able to hurt them.
But they never thought he would simply just disappear just as the arrows were about to pierce him.
This shocked them to a standstill. Add to it their arrows' high speed, and it made sense that they failed to jump into the void in time and ate the full force of each others' arrows.
"I-I never thought… I would meet my e-end like this." Thud! One of the Armored Spirit Archers fell to the ground, the glow in its receding. It was dead.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Three more followed in its footsteps, ascending to the afterlife for good.
The system's notification sounded in Roy's mind.
『Ding! Congratulations. You have killed four rank-2 Armored Spirit Archers. You gained 8 Shards of the Arrow Force skill. You have gained the rights to have True Dragon's Fire Essences extracted from their body and transferred to you.』
He was in a pricky situation. He, of course, couldn't refine his body at this time. Upgrading the physique using fire essences would require him to transform back into his human form, and if he did that, he had no doubt that the furious archers would rip him to shreds with their arrows.
"W-we... we were p-pierced by the same... arrow. Why are we alive... while they are... dead?" One of them glanced at the unmoving puppets and blinked its eyes in confusion. Its expression was extremely human-like.
Pa! It was slapped and scolded by the one standing next to it.
"Idiot, we were shot on the head while the arrows pierced their chest and came out of their back. The magic circle on their back was thus destroyed. It's what keeps us alive. With it destroyed, It's no surprise they immediately lost their lives. Safeguard the magic circle on your back, or you will turn like them, lifeless."
It didn't know that it had exposed its weakness to Roy. The only explanation he got from the system about their magic circles was that they allowed them to use Force. But thanks to it, he realized that the one on their back was like their life source. And although he was not the best, he was quite good at breaking other's life sources.
"Don't be so harsh to him. He was recently enlightened by our God. It's reasonable for him to be ignorant like that."
"Yeah, you're right. We were once like him too."
Hearing their words from his hiding spot, Roy realized his guess was right.
Something calling itself God had snuck into their ancestral land and corrupted the puppets. It blessed them with more intelligence than they were supposed to have and instilled in them the idea to give their all in killing Pure-blooded like him on sight. Roy noted. He didn't know what it was. But if it stands in its way and stops him from reaching his goal, he wouldn't hesitate to kill it.
"Look for him! He must be nearby!! I want him dead!!!" A spirit archer commanded.
Following his orders, the rest scrutinized the place in search of Roy. They could see in the dark. The rubies in-laid in their eye sockets were special, allowing them to see great distances in any kind of environment. However, forget about catching sight of his shadow; they couldn't even find a sign of him. It's as if he and everything related to him had magically disappeared from this world.
"Grrrrrrr! Just where has that bastard gone?!"
The spirits didn't know that he had become one with the darkness of the corridor. It was impossible to differentiate the two from one another.
While they were looking for him, he made his way to their blind spot under their nose. None of them could see him, but their backs and their life source on them were clear to him.
"I will do my ancestors a favor and clean this ancestral land of filth. I will destroy them all today!" At this time, Rot glared at them intensely. In his ghost form, every part of his body was like his eye. He could see everything around, above, and below him.
'Die!' A great snake made of an enormous amount of black lightning surged out of the darkness, appearing just behind several of them. It was towering over them, casting a shadow of death on them. Feeling a great sense of crisis, they tried to jump into the void, ripples appearing in the same space around.
However, before they could even step into it, the black snake burst into four hundred streaks of lightning, which directly crashed into the Armored Spirit Archers' back.
Boom! An ear-splitting sound filled the air as dozens of black electric lights crackled on their backs, wiping away the magic circle on their backs.
Their life source was destroyed.
So... they thudded to the ground, their eyes losing their shine.
They seem to have instantly died!
