Second World

"Flame Succubus? Is it strong?" Handsome Joe asked.

"Its flame is effective against plant monsters. But from its size and look, I say this one to be around level 40 rare elite, not more than level 50," Wilted Tree replied. "Despite its elemental advantage, it will only slow down the final phase of that Demon Weed disaster."

"Not bad. I expected some show when we follow that Storm Wind guy here, but it turns out more than I hope for. But where is the guy? Don't tell me he sacrificed himself just to wreck his enemy's Guild Headquarters, right?"

"I don't think so. Remember he created two copies of himself before he engaged them? That was a Body Double spell. He must have changed position with one of those copies. He is probably somewhere else safe watching the show like us."

Jack was indeed watching the show, for the first hour. His Body Double at level 10 lasted 14 minutes, with a cooldown of one hour. After the cooldown of the spell expired, he re-cast the spell. Only then did he use the Invisibility scroll. His body turned invisible and he headed for the Guild Headquarters' entrance.

He left his copies outside and watched the proceeding battle from their eyes. He suspected none of the guild members had become a Viscount yet, so the method he had used to defend Heavenly Citadel should not be available to them yet, but he was surprised when the Flame Succubus appeared. It reminded him again to not underestimate these top guilds.

The interior was empty. Everyone had run out to deal with the Demon Weed, which gave him a smooth journey to the Guild Hall. The layout of this headquarters was similar to Heavenly Citadel, so Jack didn't waste much time finding his way.

When he entered the Guild Hall, it was as expected, someone was in front of the round platform reviewing the battlefield and controlling the native Footsoldiers. It was an old man in heavy armor. The Guild Core which was Jack's target was some distance behind the old man.

Although being invisible, Jack still took care to walk slowly and silently. He did not have the Silent Step skill, so he had to consciously make sure that he made no sound. When he passed by near the old man, out of curiosity he used his Inspect on him.

General Manager Ironfist (Avenger, level: 32)

HP: 1990

The old man seemed to notice something. He abruptly used charge as a very large claymore appeared in his hands. Jack was alarmed when he saw the old man headed straight at him and swung his oversized claymore right at where Jack was standing.

The swing was parried by Jack's Storm Breaker and Whirlwind Falchion. His invisibility spell was broken by that one contact.

"You can sense mana?" Jack asked as he came to a realization.

Ironfist didn't reply. Instead, he responded by making another swing. But before the blade arrived, it seemed to break into three images.

Jack could tell the images were not just illusions, he could sense that he would receive damage from each of them. It was similar to Warpath's Shadowless slash. Jack's two swords danced as they clashed with the claymore's images. Ironfist's assault didn't stop, he continued swinging skillfully, each swing delivering multiple images.

'It's a martial art move!' Jack exclaimed within. He continued to clash with Ironfist's assault while retreating backward. Apparently, this old man was those old school martial art practitioners who can sense mana.

Jack backstepped a few times to put some distance.

After the two stopped, then only did Ironfist talk, "You are that kid that had caused the problem outside. What is your plan for coming in here?"

"Do you even need to ask? I'm going to crush that Guild Core behind you," Jack replied.

Ironfist glanced back at the core, he then said, "Although you won't be able to, I have to ask, what's the point? If you managed to capture this headquarters, we will simply let go of the defense and let the disaster outside destroy this base. Then both of us will not get it."

"Hehe, so you people are still unaware."

"Unaware of what?" Ironfist frowned.

"That one guild can only possess one Guild Headquarters," Jack answered.

Ironfist pondered a while about the statement before he gave another question, "If that is true, then the question remained, what's the point of you destroying the guild core. Are you not confident the disaster outside can destroy us? You come yourself to finish the job?"

Jack smiled, "You will know when I destroy it."

"Unfortunately, that will not be possible."

"Why? Because you have called in reinforcements as we speak?"

"No, because I alone am enough. The others have their hands full. It is not necessary to bother them."

"I'm glad you think that way," Jack's grin became wider. "However, even though you are good. You are not the level of my grandfather, so you won't be able to stop me."

Jack used Blitz Slash, attempting to zip past Ironfist, and headed directly to the Guild Core. He didn't expect his skill to connect. If this old man was as skillful as he appeared to be, he would be able to evade his attack. However, Ironfist stood his ground.

Although Jack's attack hit and five slashes landed on Ironfist's body, Jack didn't pass through him like usual. His Blitz Slash was stopped in front of Ironfist.

'You forget about Knight's Enhanced Block?' Peniel said to him telepathically.

Enhanced Block was a standard Knight Skill acquired at level 25. It increased a Knight's defense and stopped all skills or spells from punching through a target. It was a defensive skill to protect the allies behind. Anyone who stood behind the Knight would be protected from such assaults. This skill was an active skill though, so perfect timing in using it was required. And it had a cooldown time, so those hiding behind a Knight couldn't expect to have constant protection.

Jack truly had forgotten this skill. Peniel had informed him before but since he never saw this skill in action, he didn't put it into mind. He never saw this skill because not many Knights had the expertise to catch an opponent's attack timing accurately.

Aside from his own carelessness of forgetting the Knight's skill, one other thing surprised Jack. The damage from each slash was only slightly more than 300 damage. Jack had eaten sweet dumplings and applied Enhanced Whetstone before invading this headquarters. Combined with all other buffs, his normal slash could deal almost 600 damage. The enhanced from level 10 Blitz Slash skill could deal over 800 damage. Ironfist should have died from this one skill if he didn't dodge.

Yet, each of his five slashes on Ironfist only dealt around 300 damage. Even if an Avenger's defense were high and the Enhanced Block increased his defense further, such an extreme damage reduction didn't make sense.

"Be careful!" Peniel warned the same time when Ironfist's Claymore glowed with red light. There were also five small red orbs circling around his body.

Surprised by having his Blitz Slash blocked had caused Jack a second of halted reaction, which was capitalized by Ironfist. He kicked at Jack's knee. Despite Jack's strength and endurance, a knee was a weak joint, he couldn't resist getting imbalanced.

Ironfist slashed at this moment. Jack used his sword to attempt a block, but Ironfist suddenly twisted his claymore and used its hilt to knock Jack's sword aside. His claymore then twisted again and struck Jack with its glowing sharp blade.

Jack felt a strong pushing force. That slash must have been reinforced with Power Strike skill. His body flew back as his HP dropped drastically. So much that it scared him for a beat. His 2420 HP was down to only 260 when he landed. He lost more than 2000 HP in that one hit!

He heard rapid footsteps and knew that Ironfist was rushing at him to finish the job. A healing light landed on Jack and his HP was pulled back up to 1470. Peniel had hurriedly used her Fast Heal skill to help Jack. Ironfist glanced at the fairy when he saw what she did, but he didn't stop his advance.

Ironfist used his martial art move which sent multiple slashing images with each swing again. Jack didn't shy away, he responded in kind using his Formless Flowing Sword style.

As his swords were clashing with Ironfist's, he yelled in his mind, 'What the hell was that just now? How come the damage is so high even against my defense?"

'That's because it was mostly your own power,' Peniel replied. 'It is an avenger standard skill, Counter-Strike. At level 1 this skill absorbs 50% damage from an opponent's attack to be added into his next melee attack.'

'No wonder my damage on him was so low,' Jack thought as he continued to cross swords with Ironfist.

Jack did not have the time to ask about an Avenger's skill set before because, by the time Jack found out Ironfist was an Avenger, the old man had already lunged at him. Jack felt lucky this old martial expert was truly not at the level of his grandfather. The proof was when Ironfist kicked Jack's knee, Jack did not receive damage. In other words, Ironfist was not at the level of mana manipulation yet.

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