Though the petrified giant lizard's attack was swift, Clementine herself was an agile fighter, and her reflexes were just as quick. She immediately drew her magic short daggers from her waist, pressing them against the sharp horn in front of the petrified giant lizard's nose in a cross pattern. The creature's mouth length was limited. Even though the petrified giant lizard bit down hard, it couldn't reach Clementine, who always remained just beyond the reach of its massive maw. The monster could only use brute force to push her back.
Ability Boost!
Super-Enhanced Ability!
Clementine launched two enhanced martial arts in quick succession, drastically increasing her ability values. Her feet formed a sharp angle with the ground with greater support, and she finally managed to stop her body from sliding backward.
Whoosh!
Exerting force with her hands, she pushed the petrified giant lizard's head away. Taking advantage of this opening, Clementine immediately started moving. With staggering steps, she only advanced two paces to reach the best attacking position. The petrified giant lizard's skin was incredibly thick, its hardness even comparable to mithril metal armor. Its weakest point was its eyes.
Hiss!
Before Clementine could strike, the giant basilisk activated its racial ability. Its eyes glowed, and the gaze that locked onto Clementine then emitted a beam of light to attack. This was the petrifying ray that could turn living beings and objects into stone!
Hmph!
Clementine scoffed inwardly. She didn't know how many times she had sparred with this beast before. How could she not be prepared for this move?
Wind Blast!
Torrent Acceleration!
Two enhanced martial arts were activated at the same time. The first increased body speed, and the latter strengthened nerve reaction speed, simultaneously improving attack and evasion speed. Before the petrifying ray hit Clementine, she had moved like a ghost, and the attack missed.
But Clementine's goal wasn't just to evade. She moved closer to the petrified giant lizard, and the magic short cone in her hand struck swiftly, piercing the beast's eye!
Coo-coo-coo!
A strange cry reached her ears, and a dark red shadow shot towards her at an incredibly fast speed. Clementine immediately stopped attacking the petrified giant lizard, stepped back, and pulled out a magic short cone to block her face.
Clang!
The attacking object collided with the magic cone, making a metallic sound, then immediately flew back into the air. After Clementine retreated to a safe distance, she glanced at the flying object in the sky. It was a flying monster twice the size of an ordinary owl and had red feathers all over its body, a Crimson Owl!
"Hey! My dear brother, long time no see."
Clementine was wary of both monsters, and her eyes were fixed on someone walking out of the shadows. The man looked very much like her, only his gender was different.
"Clementine, surrender yourself and then tell us the whereabouts of your two accomplices to help us retrieve the original artifact. That way, I can beg the High Priest to spare your life," Quaiesse said in a low voice, looking at his sister who had become a stranger before him.
As if in response to his determination, three figures walked out of the shadows and worked together with Quaiesse to form a circle to surround Clementine in the center, blocking all her escape routes.
Clementine looked around and joked, "Oh, such a grand show of force used to capture me. I'm so scared. By the way, didn't the beast with the blood of the gods come?"
"It seems you have truly fallen and there's no remedy!" Quaiesse's face suddenly turned pale. The Six Great Gods were the roots of the civilization on which the Church of Fate was founded. Every citizen of the Church should show respect to the gods who had awakened their divine bloodline. This was not only for them personally, but also out of reverence for the gods themselves. Clementine's current words and actions had insulted the gods.
"Begin!"
At the command, the two monsters attacked Clementine again, and the three Black Scripture members around them also took action.
[Strongest Man] carried his massive war axe and lunged forward like a full-speed chariot, even faster than the petrified giant lizard and the Crimson Owl. The war axe slashed quickly, and Clementine swiftly parried it with the magic short cone on her head. Just as the weapons were about to collide, she activated a defensive martial art - Impenetrable Fortress!
Clang!
"Hmph! You're just being clever!" The stone-splitting war axe was deflected by the martial art's power. The strong barbarian was not surprised at all and also used martial arts.
Quick Counter! Fatal Blow!
In an instant, the [Strongest Human's] arm was so fast that a blur appeared, and the giant axe that had just been deflected fell again. Although Clementine crossed her two cones in time to try to block it, her strength was much weaker than that of the [Strongest Man], and she was immediately struck by the axe and thrown backward.
Coo-coo-coo!
The Crimson Owl's attack continued, and its sharp claws raked Clementine's exposed shoulder and collarbone, leaving four bloody marks deep enough to see bone.
This wasn't over yet.
An invisible shockwave hit Clementine hard behind the Crimson Owl. The tremendous force instantly broke two of her ribs, and blood spurted out as she opened her mouth.
Thump!
After falling to the ground, Clementine rolled several times uncontrollably, gritting her teeth and glancing at the ancestral hall not far away.
Damn it, is that bastard toying with me? They said they wanted to use her as bait, and now that the Black Scripture has arrived, the mission is considered accomplished, so why hasn't he come out to support!
Ahhh~
At this moment, a melodious song reached Clementine's ears. She immediately felt her body difficult to move and her eyes instantly fixed on the culprit. She was a beautiful blonde nun wearing a green veil. She had a special aura of calmness and elegance about her. At this moment, she was chanting a spell with her eyes slightly closed.
The fourth seat of the Black Scripture, [Holy Chant], possessed a special ability as terrifying as the second seat, [Time Turbulence]. Her body was held by an invisible force, and Clementine struggled with all her might, but she only twitched like a muscle spasm.
"It's over." Quaiesse shook his head and prepared to step forward to tie Clementine and subdue her.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of heavy, rapid footsteps reached the ears of everyone in the Black Scripture, causing them to instinctively turn towards the ancestral hall, only to see a tall figure rushing out of the hall with a fierce momentum.
In his left hand was a huge tower shield about 1.8 meters tall, and in his right hand was a 1.3-meter-long wavy sword with a dark red halo. His entire suit of armor was covered with bright red lines that looked like blood vessels.
"Death Knight!!!"
"Annoying!"
Quaiesse's expression suddenly became extremely serious. He had previously thoroughly checked the inside of the ancestral hall and found no trace of an enemy. Why would a Death Knight come out at this moment? This was an unexpected variable in their plan.