Chapter 1085 1085. Barbarian King
While Jack faced Tumwa, Four Winds fought against Mkulme. He mostly played defense using his martial arts. Starlight field surrounded him, deflecting Mkulme's assaults.
Even when Mkulme used multi-sided strikes where he created multiple clones that attacked from different sides, Four Winds defended using the same martial art.
Four Winds had mastered this art to near perfection. Relying on his mana sense, he could identify from which angles Mkulme's attacks came. He then focused the fast slashing of his axes at that part, creating a denser starlight. This allowed him to stop Mkulme's attack even when he lost in strength stat.
However, continuously using this martial art drained his body. Especially so after his Titan Strength ran out of duration. His body was back to normal size. He felt extremely fatigued. He knew he couldn't keep this up. He looked over at Jack and knew that Jack was still far from achieving a victory.
That momentary distraction cost him. Mkulme used Power Strike on a part that was poorly defended. This stopped Four winds' starlight field and staggered him.
Mkulme's two hands came together. A tell-tale sign of Ki Blast.
Four Winds was aware of that move. He immediately used Jump Assault. Not for offense though, he used it to jump away just as an enormous energy blast was discharged from Mkulme's hands.
When Four Winds landed, he looked back to where Mkulme was but failed to spot that native. Mkulme had used Vanish.
Four Winds at first worried that Mkulme was going to attack Jack while being invisible. He was about to head over to where Jack was fighting Tumwa, only for his mana sense to inform him of an impending danger coming from above.
He instinctively crossed both his axe above him, just as he felt an impact on those axes. Mkulme materialized then.
Mkulme's strength outclassed Four Winds, Four Winds was forced till his knees bent. Four Wind's axes were also pushed down until the sharp ends of Mkulme's two karambits stabbed into Four Winds' shoulders from above.
Damage numbers appeared from those two stabs. The pain also caused Four Winds to involuntarily screamed.
Players' HP pool couldn't be compared to high-grade natives. Those two stabs which were considered normal attacks drained almost one-third of Four Winds' HP.
Four winds could sense from Mkulme's mana that he was prepared to deal a final blow, but his mana suddenly went turbulent. Something had hit Mkulme right at the back of his neck.
It was Jack. He used the uncommon-grade throwing knife which he had bought but never used before because he had his spells for ranged attacks, but this time he couldn't use any of that. So, he threw that knife using his archer's skill, Precise Shot.
The knife dealt pitiful damage. But since it was unexpected and also hit a weak spot, it disrupted Mkulme's offense.
Four Winds didn't let the chance go. He drove his head forward. His forehead crashed hard on Mkulme's nose. The headbutt dealt damage because Four Winds used mana manipulation. It also dazed Mkulme that he let go of his downward pressure on Four Winds.
Breaking away from the grapple, Four Winds used the second skill from his Titan Bloodline, Titan Blow. Four Winds received this skill when his bloodline reached level 4. His Titan bloodline, which consumed essences from Humanoid monsters, was level 5 at the moment.
Titan Blow conjured a titan-size fist that delivered tremendous physical damage. The massive fist slammed into Mkulme who was still dazed. It sent him flying away, giving Four Winds the much-needed reprieve.
Mkulme, angry at being denied the chance to finish off Four Winds, rose and was about to rush back. However, he sensed something that made him turn. He was just in time before the armored basilisk' opened maws chomped his head.
He narrowly dodged the bite and then counterattacked with Chained Strikes. Repeated punches landed on the armored basilisk, dealing increased damage with each blow, and pushing it back.
"Four Winds, finish him!" Jack called while exchanging moves with Tumwa.
Jack had sent the armored basilisk over to aid Four Winds. With all his wolves gone, he had no way to limit Tumwa's movements. The basilisk was too slow for Tumwa. Even if he could keep his distance close to the orc, landing a hit was another matter.
So, Jack chose to flip their original plan. He was now keeping Tumwa busy while Four Winds and the basilisk finished Mkulme.
Mkulme's chained strikes drove the basilisk back. However, the damage wasn't as high as Mkulme hoped. The armored skin of the basilisk had a very high defense. Even after receiving the consecutive attacks, the basilisk immediately lunged back to attack.
Mkulme expertly dodged, but he sensed another pressure behind him. He looked back and saw Four Winds lifting his two axes high. One thing surprised him when he saw Four winds' body. All over Four Winds' body which was not covered by armor, his blood veins bulged and became very visible. They were also purple in color.
What Four Winds used was his special class, Barbarian King's level 60 skill, Royal Barbarian Blood. The skill gave the same buffs as the enhanced berserk. But instead of reducing defense like berserk skill, it added defense. It even lasted longer than berserk. It had a duration of five minutes. Each level-up increased its duration, Four Winds had leveled it up several times. It lasted around eight minutes at its current level.
However, Four Winds didn't use this skill before because it had a downside. After this skill ended, all his attributes would be reduced by 50% for one minute. Hence, he only used it as a last resort.
The two axes in Four winds' hands glowed. He slashed downward. Rapid energy waves were unleashed from that slash. Mkulme was too close and the energy wave was too fast. Mkulme failed to dodge.
The slash was Barbarian King's first skill, Savage Cleave. It was similar to Jack's Brave Slash that it had a high chance to wound the opponent. It didn't boost the critical hit and damage but it dealt higher damage than Brave Slash. It dealt 1500% physical damage. It also caused Bleed and Weakness.
Mkulme suffered high damage and was afflicted by the two status effects. Additionally, his chest armor was torn by the Savage Cleave. The cleave didn't wound him. Instead, it broke his chest armor. Its durability was reduced to zero and he lost all the defense and ability bonuses from the equipment.
Four winds also used Ancestral Possession, Berserker level 50 skill. It was time to go all out. The spirit that he conjured was not the standard spirit. The spirit had the appearance of a red-skinned ogre with two demonic horns that wield large twin axes.
With the spirit floating above him and aiding him, Four Winds kept the pressure up. With the armored basilisk attacking from the flank and Mkulme inhibited by the status effects, Four Winds went all offense.
"Look out!" Four Winds suddenly heard Jack's call. His mana sense warned him as well.
He swayed as a flying knife flew past him.
At the same time, three large nails flew toward the armored basilisk. The rear ends of these three nails burst into fire and gave the nails a speed boost. The nails also whirled at high speed. These three nails then drilled into the armored basilisk.
The basilisk roared from the pain. High damage also appeared on it.
The nails were thrown by Tumwa. They were Hidden Weapon Specialist's level 50 skill, Drilling Dart. Each nail dealt 400% damage, ignored 70% defense, and had a 10% chance to inflict Fatigue and Weakness.
"I thought you are keeping her busy?!" Four Winds scolded.
"She is too fast, damn it!" Jack replied while continued attacking Tumwa. But as he had expected, he barely touched her.
At that time, Jack heard a notification in his mind. Therras had come out of its cocoon state and could be summoned again.