One sentinel acted as a tank while the other leisurely prepped and shot forward with its spear at the best possible openings. Though, the image of a 20-meter-tall sentinel using a 3-meter-tall shield was a bit odd. Unfortunately, unlike his other spirit weapons, Dyon couldn't afford the drop in ability that would result from blowing up the size of the shield.
Injuries began to accumulate along Eleven's sturdy black body and chips began to crack along her long, knife-like claws.
'Not only do their techniques seem to change endlessly, but even the abilities of their weapons do!' The gritting of Nine's teeth seemed almost louder than the clashes of the battle. She had never witnessed such a thing in her life.
Dyon's tower shield spirit had a heart wrenching [Echo] ability. With every strike levied against the shield, it would absorb 10% of it and reflect 30%, leaving 60% to barrel its way through. However, the devastating part was that after 10 absorptions, the wielder of the shield could activate [Echo], sending out 10 strikes.
If this was all, maybe it would be alright. However, this wasn't all at all. If [Echo] wasn't interrupted by another attack hitting the shield, each successive [Echo] would grow more powerful. The first would be 100% of the cumulation of 10 absorptions, the second would be 105%, the third 110%. Eventually, the tenth strike would be 145% of the accumulated 10 absorptions!
This might be hard to grasp, but to put it in simple turns, if Nine hit the tower shield ten times and failed to interrupt the [Echo] that followed, she would have to suffer the equivalent of 145% of her striking power!
Unfortunately, Nine learned this the hard way.
Her rage got the better of her. Seeing the sentinels hiding behind a turtle shells, several days of accumulated anger bubbled over.
Completely enraged, she wanted to bash the shield into pieces. She and Eleven had spent several days in their humanoid beast forms. Though they weren't mentally fatigued like Dyon, their bodies were tired. The neurotoxins coursing through their veins only made matters worse.
She was frustrated. She hated the fact someone was playing with her life as though she was a puppet on a string.
In retaliation, her fists and kicks flew toward the shield. She felt the 30% reflection, but she didn't care. 30% of her own power wasn't enough to shake her. She would break them out of this turtle shell.
Eleven lurched forward, hoping to use this opportunity to reach the second sentinel. Unfortunately, this was when the first [Echo] was activated.
Nine was completely caught off guard. The first [Echo] didn't just reflect the average power of her last ten strikes, but it also widened the range of the already obscenely large tower shield. It was already a meter and a half across in width and almost three meters tall, but it suddenly expanded, increasing its width to more than 5 meters and blasting both Nine and Eleven backward.
It was at that moment that Dyon's eyes flashed. '[Retrace].'
An immortal puppet appeared in that instant. However, its target wasn't Nine or Eleven. Instead, it was the heavily injured Ten they had been protecting!
Eleven and Nine's eyes widened. But Dyon immediately felt that something was off.
Ten sneered. "Do you really think a mighty Dragon needs so long to heal?!"
Ten's body erupted into a burst of silver energy, his life-like silver scales blooming to life as they flapped up and down. They truly acted more like feathers than scales. However, their defense was no joke at all.
In that instant, Ten rebuffed the immortal puppets attack, awakening from his meditation state in an attempt to deal a savage blow. Unfortunately, he had underestimated the immortal puppets far too much. Even with all the strength his body could muster without qi, not even a dent was left in the puppet even as it was blown back into the darkness of the ocean.
An ugly expression coated Ten's features. He had wanted to destroy one puppet, but who would have thought that they were actually so sturdy? Should he have used his qi?
'Don't be greedy.' Ten shook his head. One of their own had died precisely because they accepted too much cold qi. They couldn't look down on it at all.
Dyon frowned. It wasn't in resignation. No. It was in disappointment. Are dao experts supposed to be this stupid? Aren't they all supposed to be geniuses? So why do they keep falling for his tricks?
Only an idiot would have fallen for Ten's nonsense. Nine and Eleven were supposed to be guarding him because he was fatally injured, yet Eleven ignored him to charge into a gap despite knowing after fighting so long that he could make immortal puppets appear out of nowhere?
Did killing three of them not teach them anything? Did they think he was a child?
It was at that moment that the second [Echo] was released, catching Nine and Eleven even more off guard. It could do that more than once?!
All of the weapon abilities they had faced up to now… They were too good to be Spiritual grade weapons. They all had the abilities of supreme grade weapons! How was this even possible? This strike was even more powerful than the last!
Eleven coughed up mouthfuls of blood. Though Nine could withstand 105% of her own strikes, how could Eleven who was far weaker than her do the same?
Ten grit his teeth. There was no more feigning weakness. He had to dive back into the battle, especially since his sneak attack had failed and Eleven was barely holding on.
Nine's instincts told her she had to strike the shield once more, but the problem was that she could only cut through the energy with her own body. Her best chance would have been after withstanding her 100% strike, but now the strikes were only becoming more powerful.
The third [Echo] blasted along the ocean floor.
