Chapter 115: Serpent Steel, The Power of Auto casting!

First, Faust focused on the lightning-fast assassin and used Observe to mark him in a red outline. Even with that deceptive movement skill, Faust might still be able to follow Drekar.

​Faust met Drekar’s dash with a wide swing of his axe. The assassin repeated his move, leaping into the air, spinning and slashing midair at Faust’s throat.

​The difference in their clash made itself known in the first three moves. Drekar set him up, slashing left and right until Faust was forced to block the third attack with the shaft of his axe.

​It was a straight jab at his chest that should have been deflected easily.

​But the black steel glowed white when it hit his axe, then it elongated, slithering down to slash at his fingers.

​Faust didn’t have a moment to even think about it.

​’Auto Cast!’

​The spell he had chosen for Auto Cast was Shadow Step, so he instantly disappeared and reappeared in a shadow four meters ahead of him.

​He had set the Auto Cast to repeat that action without him thinking because if he ever got into a sticky situation, he didn’t want to just retreat. He wanted his escape to be a counterattack.

​He flashed to the shadow in front of him, bringing him behind Drekar. He turned and slashed at the man’s back, but he also turned into a shadow and escaped.

​Nirvana stopped beside him. "Are you alright?"

​They all formed up around him, watching every shadow tensely.

​Faust nodded. "I don’t know what his skills and strategy are, but he seems really intent on cutting me, even if it’s just a shallow cut."

​Drekar reappeared a few meters away from them. Another surge of movement shook the castle, reminding Faust that this entire place was rising into the sky.

​"You’ve got good instincts," Drekar said with a slight hint of praise in his deep, hoarse voice. "You fight well, too, for someone whose world just joined the trials."

​Faust nodded. "I can say the same for you."

​"It’s a shame we have to face someone like you." Drekar sighed. "It’s a shame that your damnation is our salvation."

​"What do you mean?" Faust asked carefully. He needed to know more about this situation to remedy things. He remembered Drekar mentioning that this had all been planned.

​"The castle will cross a sixth gate we’ve set up high in the atmosphere. It will cross into your section of the Origin Servers, just above your Novice Village."

​Thalia had an incredulous look on her face. She turned down, muttering, "What? Why.... No. No, no, fuck."

​"What?" Faust wondered, then it clicked in his head. "You’re going to destroy the Novice Village."

​Drekar nodded slowly, his voice full of pity. "In your eagerness to battle and prove yourself, you forgot what this trial was about. ’Protect your Novice Village to participate.’ I believe the system should have said something like that."

​The castle walls began to crack and shudder. Rain seeped in from the cracks, and lightning flashed more and more around the building.

​’He’s wasting our time.’

​Faust glanced at the stairs to the throne room.

​Drekar smiled. "My apologies, but you won’t get past me. And if you turn your back on me, then you’ll find my dagger there."

​"It is regrettable," Drekar continued, "that you will be left here. But the system only gives us so many choices."

​"Trapped here..." Thalia muttered. "Once our village is destroyed, the gates will close. We’ll be stuck here."

​"As we were for so long," Drekar said. "We gain our freedom and the system gains new tools to use in its entertainment."

​Faust dashed forward suddenly. "Not happening!"

​He chased Drekar across the room with a vengeance, pushing Pathfinder to the limit as he tried to predict the assassin’s moves. It was necessary to stay ahead. Drekar was faster and a much better fighter than him.

​So he had to rely on tricks.

​And Faust had a lot of tricks.

​His summons surged around him as he relentlessly attacked, synchronizing on his mental command.

​The wind elemental blew up a storm behind Drekar to limit his escape, while the Nine-faced Scourger lurked above, waiting for Faust’s command. The archer summon rode the Red Wolf once again.

​The wolf summon was twenty percent faster than him, and therefore just a bit faster than even Drekar. The archer pestered him with arrows, but he dodged them with abnormal ease, sliding between each arrow with just a gap.

​The wolf came in closer, and Drekar smiled.

​"Wrong move."

​Faust didn’t know what was about to happen, but it couldn’t be good. He immediately ordered the Scourger to pour its corrosive red saliva down around Drekar to slow him down.

​The red fluid steamed against the ground. The Red Wolf retreated.

​But there was no escape.

​Drekar turned into a shadow and reappeared in the wolf’s path. The beast snarled and lunged at him furiously.

​"No!" Faust roared.

​The wolf’s claws tore through the mirage of Drekar, while the real one moved outside its line of sight, slashing quickly at the archer’s shin and its back.

​They were light blows. But the difference was immediate.

​The Red Wolf became drastically slower, and blood geysered from the thin wound like it was a cut on the jugular.

​The archer summon also tried pinning Drekar with an arrow, but it couldn’t even notch an arrow for some reason.

​Faust turned pale.

​The Envy effect.

​What if it stole something from the people it struck? That would mean that Drekar just stole the Red Wolf’s speed and the archer’s bow skill.

​Faust only had a second to process that before Drekar blitzed towards him. Faust only saw the red outline of his arm and leaned back, barely dodging.

​’Auto Cast!’

​As he shadow stepped behind Drekar, he ordered his summons to buy him some space and make sure to stay away from Drekar.

​The castle was breaking apart. Rain fell into these halls for the first time in maybe centuries. Faust staggered a bit over the shaking floor.

​"Now, how am I going to destroy this guy?"