Lenny brandished his dagger. Many assassins dual-wield daggers, since it doubled the equipment's bonus stats. Even some of his comrades did that. But he wasn't used to that fighting style. He had always been good with fighting using one dagger.
He came to the old man without hesitation. He had killed many youths since this battle started. He thought dealing with an old man would be a nice change of pace.
The old man was carrying a glaive, a long weapon. Lenny paid attention to the old man's hand, the glaive was carried with its blade facing down. Such a sheep, Lenny thought. The guy wasn't even holding his weapon right. Lenny planned to evade the clumsy attack this civilian old man do before closing in and dealing a deadly blow.
When they almost meet, the old man's glaive was still down. He did not attack? Lenny thought. Usually, civilians got anxious when their enemy was almost upon them, they would carry out their attacks way before their opponent was actually in range.
Perhaps this old man was not a civilian, Lenny thought. But still, he didn't think a decrepit old man was someone he couldn't take care of. He continued advancing with confidence.
All of a sudden, the blade of the glaive was right in front of his face.
The old man in front of Lenny was Domon. Domon had made a small twist on the wrist of the hand that was holding his glaive. That small movement had spun the glaive from a downward position to upward in an instant.
Lenny was given the scare of his life. The timing this old man used was very accurate. If his reflex had been any slower, his head would have been diving right into the blade. Still, Lenny's momentum had been too fast, his forceful dodge caused him to fall flat on his back.
At this time, Domon's feet came down at him.
Lenny snickered. This old man was senile. Had he forgotten already no damage would occur if an attack was done without a weapon? Except of course if he was a Battle Monk, but he was not. Lenny was going to stab the old man's leg using his dagger once the old man's feet touched his body.
Yet, when the foot was planted on his stomach, he felt all the air in his body was forcefully pushed out of him. He felt like he had been stepped on by an elephant. His body bent from the point of impact as he felt the ground underneath him break apart. Most surprisingly, he saw his HP taking a deep dive.
Domon had executed a martial move of him, One Thousand Pounds Mountain. It was a martial method that was the opposite from when he made himself weightless and jumped between heads. He now concentrated all his weight onto his foot and multiplied it using his chi, resulting in a very heavy stomp that could crack even concrete floor.
Bowler cringed seeing this man getting stepped like that. In their past world, the man would have vomited blood from that powerful stomp.
Domon twirled his glaive then stabbed it into the head of the man on his feet, resulting in critical damage that took out Lenny's life. It's no time to be merciful. Domon had seen them slaughtering others when he approached. He could see at once from their deed and movements that these men were real-life soldiers or mercenaries. They considered this as a war where slaughtering was fair, so he would do the same.
Regim, who watched from afar, was astounded. He couldn't believe Lenny had been taken out in such a short time. That proud soldier might be cocky and it might also be because he had been careless. But still, to be able to achieve that in an instant meant that the opponent was not simple.
"Joe, Kravitz, Sam, with me!" Regim ordered. Three of his men came to him and the four of them moved out.
"I will deal with them, you help the others," Domon said to Bowler when he saw the four coming.
Bowler nodded. He moved to the side, taking a roundabout to reach the others who were still fighting at the chokepoints.
Regim saw the Priest moving away, he did not ask his men to chase. The old man in front of them who had killed Lenny was the true threat.
Domon was standing his ground waiting for them.
"Domon," Regim uttered, reading the name after performing Inspect. "Are you a martial artist?"
"I am. Are all of you soldiers?" Domon asked back.
"We are," Regim replied.
"I suspected so. Your killing intents are very thick. Come! It had been some times since I have a spar with real troopers."
"Don't get big-headed, old man," Kravitz uttered. "You managed to kill Lenny because he thought you are just a simple old man. Do not expect that you will be able to deal with us if we are serious. We soldiers fought real combat, not play competition like you martial artists do."
"I remember a trooper said similar words to me when I was invited to teach martial arts in a military camp. After I put him down, he never dares say anything disrespectful again."
"Talking time is over. Kravitz, we are on a mission. Keep your head in the game," Regim admonished. He then ordered Kravitz and Sam who were assassins to go for close contact, while he and Joe who were gunners to stay behind.
Joe was using a shotgun while Regim carried a long-barreled handgun. The two started shooting. Domon moved when they did. Joe's shotgun had less rate of fire while Regim's shot more frequently, but none of their shots hit.
Domon seemed to be moving away just an instant when they were pulling their triggers. It was uncanny. The old man was already away from where they were aiming at before the bullet left their guns' barrels.
"Impossible!" Regim uttered. Although the players here exhibited superhuman speed due to high Dexterity stats. A bullet still traveled faster. They had not yet met anyone who could dodge bullets whether in the past world or this game world, until now. Regim was very much missing a machine gun at this moment. Unfortunately, no weapon with such a high rate of fire had yet been found.
When Kravitz and Sam came into contact with the old man. It was even more difficult for Joe and Regim to take a shot. The old man was always putting himself in an angle that had their comrades blocking the line of fire.
"Spread out!" Regim told Joe.
Kravitz was one of those that had learned to use dual-wielding daggers. While Sam was like Lenny, still prefer using one dagger. The two tried to attack Domon from opposite angles, but Domon easily deflected their attacks. He swatted Kravitz daggers using his glaive and kicked away Sam's arm that was stabbing, all the while dodging occasional gunshots.
Kravitz disliked using game skills. He thought it was unrealistic. Many inside the guild Jackal Crews felt the same. But it didn't mean they don't know how to. At this time, failing to land any attack even after the four of them were ganging up on this old man, caused a hurting to his pride.
He sent a message to Sam, coordinating their attacks. Both of them executed Unblockable Stab, an Assassin's level 35 skill. A phantom dagger came out from Kravitz and headed to Domon's chest. Sam's one came to Domon's back. This skill ignores 100% defense, dealing full damage with a high chance of critical.
However, before the phantom dagger hit, an axe appeared in Domon's left hand. His glaive went to his back to block Sam's strike while the axe cut at Kravitz's one.
Kravitz sneered. This old man didn't understand their skill's mechanics. This attack phased through everything. That's why it was called unblockable.
However, he watched with wide eyes, the phantom daggers from both him and Sam shattered to pieces when these daggers touched Domon's glaive and axe.
"How...?" Both Kravitz and Sam were taken aback by this, which stopped their movement. Domon used the two weapons on his hands and performed Death Carrying Cyclone while activating Ki Weapon. His two weapons glowed as they spun, cutting both Kravitz and Sam several times.
Sam snapped out of his surprise early and managed to activate Assassin's level 40 skill, Vanish, to save himself. He Shifted ten meters away in a random location and stayed invisible afterward for a short duration. It was the same skill that the expert assassin player had used to escape from Jack before Oswald appeared. That expert had used a magic scroll that contained this elite skill.
Kravitz was not that fortunate. His HP dropped to zero.
Although Sam had managed to teleport away and become invisible. Domon could sense his position easily. Domon used Ki Wave, a level 40 Weapon Master's skill, the only range attack he had. The skill produced an energy wave that traveled through the ground. Sam was already low in health when he escaped. This wave took out his remaining HP when it hit.
Regim and Joe, while they continued shooting their guns, were filled with disbelief when their two comrades fell before their eyes.
