Shen Yue glared at Liam with her eyes shooting daggers at him.
As for the real daggers, she gripped them tightly and tried activating the strongest weapon in her arsenal to get some breathing room and refill her health.
[Beguile]
"Hmmm? Why is it not working?"
[Beguile]
[Beguile]
She gritted her teeth and mumbled loudly, loud enough for the other person to hear.
Liam grinned. This was something else that he had wanted to test.
Back when he was with the naga, the naga had said something about his mental acumen being good.
So he wanted to see what effect this skill would have on him, but he never expected it not to work completely.
"Try again." He then moved casually, cornering the woman again, and slashed his sword down lazily.
Even with everything he had said, this action was way more humiliating as it showed the difference between both their levels.
Overcoming her initial shock, Shen Yue bit her lips and then started casting her other skills. Why are my skills not working?! Is my charm attribute truly not effective against him?
[Beguile] [Mesmerize] [Distract]
She used all of her special skills at the same time in haste.
"Think steadily. Don't panic." Liam instructed her and prepared to make the next move when suddenly he noticed that something was off. His movements were a lot slower.
So something worked?
He quickly recollected her skills again, which included beguile - mind control, mesmerize, the stun spell, and lastly, a time-altering spell, distract!
So the distract skill was still working, which meant that his mental strength wasn't all that powerful just yet. He only had a slight advantage over her.
Shen Yue as well realized this and quickly gobbled up two bottles of health potion.
A red mist enveloped her, quickly recovering her health, and she dashed forward to land her attacks before the effect wore off.
She did not want to do this, but she also did not want to look like a weak, helpless burden in front of Liam. She wanted to prove herself.
There were 30 more seconds before the distraction effect wore off, so that was all the time she had, and that too the skill did not do much. It only warped Liam's sense of time by 1 second.
For dealing with others, this was more than enough, but for this person… it was not enough. He was strong. She needed to execute her strongest move in order to prove herself.
Shen Yue gripped her daggers with determination and spun around, her body starting to emit a dazzling glow.
[Blade Dance]
This was the special active skill of her Epic ranked dagger. An epic weapon was heads and shoulders above other weapons, so the skill was not for nothing.
Shen Yue's slender body was instantly enshrouded in numerous daggers. These daggers danced around her in a violent fashion, and yet not one injured her.
With Shen Yue herself spinning around as well, she along with the daggers looked like a violent hurricane brewed by the death goddess.
And suddenly, this hurricane came to a halt, Shen Yue disappearing and the numerous daggers flying forward like zooming bullets.
Except that all of these daggers had a unique torque in their momentum. They zigged and zagged, their trajectories unpredictable.
How was one supposed to block the attack if they did not know where it was going to strike?
And that too, with the sheer number of daggers in the air, this move was definitely a finishing move!
Everyone witnessing this gasped in shock. None of them had the confidence to defend against such a move. Mei Mei already started preparing a healing spell in case Liam needed one.
The daggers buzzed alive and shot forward, all of them heading toward Liam, and he as well was clearly not prepared, his movements still being sluggish.
There was no more mystery or suspense at this point. This was definitely game over, but everyone knew that things couldn't be so simple.
It was never simple when their big boss was involved.
And just as they suspected, at the last minute, before the daggers could strike Liam, he split apart into three different figures.
It was difficult for one person to block the attack, but it was not difficult for three people to block the same attack, especially when the said person was Liam.
The daggers that were violently thrumming alive one by one disappeared after getting tangled with the purple sword.
And Shen Yue, who by now showed up behind Liam to land the finishing touch for this move, was also completely trapped.
After avoiding the dagger dance, Liam did not give her a chance to make the next move. Though his movements were sluggish, there were now three of him.
Three purple swords flashed, and Shen Yue did not know which one to block. She used the dagger in her right hand to block one and the one in her left hand to block another.
But the other sword still hit her on the same wound again, pushing her away several feet.
She sprung back quickly, trying to cast [Mesmerize] and [Distract] again, but this time Liam was more prepared.
He quickly closed his eyes and dashed towards her once again using [Illusion Sword]. He was also testing just how much he could use this skill without feeling drained.
Shen Yue gulped. She genuinely did not know what to do now. She had not played against an opponent like Liam up until now. He was on an entirely different level.
She moved, trying her best to block the sword swings with her dual daggers, but she only barely managed to block one or two.
It was impossible for her to block the attacks raining down on her from the three Liams at the same time.
And before long, CLANG!
Liam purposefully struck the dagger in her hand loudly, thereby ending the fight. If he sent even one more attack, then the girl would be dead.
So he knew when to stop and backed away. "That's enough."
Shen Yue was confused for a second and then realized what had happened. The next instant, tiredness overtook her, and she slumped down on the ground.
"Sis Yue!" Mei Mei quickly healed Shen Yue, and Liam picked her up off of the ground, gently placing her down on a nearby rock.
He helped her sit up and drink some health potions and eat some recovery berries. Soon she felt a lot better, and the wounds on her body also healed up.
Nevertheless, Shen Yue looked a bit down, so Liam awkwardly cleared his throat and mumbled. "About before, I was just saying things to get you worked up. Don't take it to heart."
"Umm. I understand." Shen Yue nodded. Clearly, she was still upset.
Liam ruffled his head and then planted a small kiss on her forehead before heading over to the group.
He pulled aside Derek and started sparring with him while Shen Yue dazedly touched her forehead, blushing bright red.
"Sis Yue! You cannot be this easy!" Mei Mei did not know whether to cry or laugh.
"Ah… Don't say that. Everything he is doing is for us. He is working very hard." Shen Yue mumbled, still rubbing her forehead.
Mei Mei shook her head helplessly. Her brother really had it too easy, and yet he was single! What a masochist!
The two of them continued watching Liam and Derek spar, which surprisingly did not go that differently from when Liam and Shen Yue had sparred.
Although in the beginning, Derek fared much better compared to Shen Yue, as time progressed, he as well suffered under the effects of the technique.
Illusionary Sword technique was simply too good, and since Liam's sword techniques were already above average, he was able to bring out the effects masterfully.
After Derek, a few other melee players as well took turns and sparred with Liam.
Derek went in for seconds, thirds, and several more helpings, and Shen Yue as well gripped her sword and went back a couple more times.
After some time, even some of the long-range players wanted to try and fight Liam. This was a rare opportunity to learn combat, and no one wanted to miss it.
And when they were not sparring with Liam, the rest of the group did not stand around and waste time and continued to clear the mobs near them.
In this manner, things continued for a while when the sky above them started to darken.
Liam let out a small sigh of tiredness and then stopped. "Hmmm. Time went by quite quickly. Alright, we can start moving to another location, and you guys can train with a different mob."
"And I will go back to… Hmmm…" He stopped packing up and suddenly looked up again.
Something was not right.
The sky was not darkening like it was supposed to, and more importantly… only the sky right above them had darkened… everywhere else was still bright.
Before Liam could realize what was happening, a loud shrill voice resounded amidst them. "GIVE ME BACK MY CROWN, YOU BITCH!"
