111 Chapter 111. Killing the Lizardman Shaman

Jack slammed onto a hut and bounced off it. He barely managed to keep his footing when he touched the ground.

Suddenly a barrage of ten arrows came raining from the sky. Jack was taken by surprise, but he still reflexively lifted his staff which still had the Magic Shield. The shield was not large enough to protect his whole body; three arrows were blocked, five narrowly missed, and two hit their mark, damaging Jack.

Jack did not need to take a look to know this was the Lizardman Archer's doing.

The Lizardman Chief used the time that Jack was dealing with the arrows to close in on him.  As soon as it came into melee range, it swung its heavy axe towards Jack.

Jack had no intention of grappling with the Lizardman Chief at the moment. He jumped back to avoid the blow. When Jack landed and was just about to turn around and run, a cracking sound came from behind him. He looked back and saw more green vines coming out of a crack in the ground.

'The damn Shaman again!' Jack cursed.

He immediately did a backflip and swung his sword at the same time. It cut the vines that were lashing at him. Jack glanced at his radar to determine the position of the Shaman; it must have gotten close to cast the vine spell. He sped towards the Shaman while evading the Lizardman's Chief's fierce attacks.

The red glow in the Lizardman's Chief's eyes had gone out, and its speed seemed to be decreasing slightly. Jack fully intended to make good use of the time until it used that enhancing roar again.

As Jack neared the Lizardman Shaman, it chanted a spell, and the ground between it and Jack cracked, and numerous vines came out again. It was like a long green carpet extending from the Shaman to Jack, but this green carpet was not the welcoming sort.

The Lizardman Archer used another skill at this time. Its hand became a blur, and it shot three swift arrows.

Jack sneered, "You think your friends are going to save you?"

Jack decided to just brute-force his way through. He couldn't afford to hide and wait for the three to separate again, it would allow the Lizardman Chief buff skill to finish its cooldown cycle. He used Charge. The sudden speed burst of the Charge made the three arrows miss completely. The Charge damaging effect sliced the vines to pieces. Jack cut through the vines like a hot knife through butter. They didn't even slow him down.

The Charge hit the Shaman. It took out another 100 HP from the Shaman's health bar. The life bar above it showed around 30% left.

Jack made a fast Inspect with his monocle; the Lizardman Shaman had only 866 HP left. Jack decided he should take the risk and finish this almost-die Lizardman Shaman. He used his past games' signature move of triple swift slashes and took out another chunk of its health.

The Lizardman Chief was trying to come to the Lizardman Shaman's rescue, but it took too much time.  Its Leap Strike was on cooldown, and, without its buff, its running speed was too slow. It could only watch as Jack continued his slashes while it ran towards them as fast as possible.

Futilely, the Shaman tried to break away while defending itself as best it could with its staff, but Jack's attack speed outclassed its own. The Lizardman Archer tried to disrupt Jack, but Jack either adjusted his position to use the Shaman's body to block or ignored the arrow attacks completely. He could withstand the insignificant damage from arrows for a long time; his rare armor decreased damage from ranged attacks by 30%.

When the Lizardman Chief got close, Jack couldn't afford to ignore it. He turned away from the Lizardman Shaman and fired a Mana Bullet at the Chief. The Lizardman Chief used its tomahawk axe and chopped at the Bullet, destroying it, but the impact also halted its advance.

Jack looked around and saw the Lizardman Shaman had used the chance when Jack's attention was away. It was currently running panicky for its life. Its back was towards Jack.

"I guess it's time for your debut," Jack said and swung his black sword forward.

"Sword of Light!"

A trace of light like a sparkler followed the arc of the sword tip. It formed a crescent-shaped light that shot forward at a breathtaking speed. It struck the Lizardman Shaman's back, and an animation played showing its head splitting open and a gush of blood bursting out. The number appeared above its head;  critical damage of 442HP!

"Holy shit!" Jack exclaimed. Not only was the damage insane, but it also created an animation! Shaman dropped to its knees and fell on its split face, not getting up anymore. Jack wondered if the animation played because the monster lost its life from that last strike or was it a normal part of the skill itself. Could be either, he guessed. Anyway, he was just glad that his opponents were down by one; it would make the rest of the fight easier.

The Lizardman Chief and Archer were stunned seeing their comrade fall. The Chief was trembling with rage; it let out a roar more deafening than the first one. Its eyes were glowing with red again, but there was another added effect this time; its scales also gained a tint of red glow.

"Don't tell me; it gets stronger when one of its guards dies?" Jack said.

"That seems to be the case, or maybe it's gone berserk," Peniel answered coolly. She continued to float above Jack, following him.

The berserk Lizardman Chief lunged at Jack, slashing down. Its speed was even faster than its first buff! 

Caught off guard, Jack did not have the time to use Magic Shield, so he used his sword to Parry instead. He could feel the difference of the Lizardman Chief's strength from the impact. The force was much heavier. Jack crashed into another hut. This time, Jack didn't bounce off the wall; he smashed through both walls and came out the other side. Jack landed on the ground, rolling to a stop.  He groaned from the pain all over his body.

He did not just receive damage from the Lizardman Chief's attack but also from crashing through the hut.

Before Jack could get up, a figure burst through the same hut, obliterating it. The Lizardman Chief flew out in mid-air with its tomahawk axe raised high.

'What the…! Hadn't it just used its leap attack?!' Jack exclaimed in his mind while hurriedly summoning his Magic Shield and raising it.

The axe came down and crashed into the shield. Jack stored his sword and used both hands to hold his staff, but he still felt as if the force of the impact had flattened him. The ground behind his back cracked in a spider web pattern because it couldn't withstand the impact pressure.

He suffered 126 damage, even after blocking with his Magic Shield. If this enhanced Leap attack had hit a typical level 15 Ranger or Magician, it would most likely have killed them with just one hit!

As Jack suffered, Peniel still found the time to reply to his previous outburst.

"The berserk effect must have rebooted the cooldown of its skills."

Jack was speechless with the Fairy, but he did not have the time to converse with her.

The Lizardman Chief lifted his axe and brought it down again and again with fervor. Jack was struggling to keep on blocking using his shield. When it brought down its axe for the fourth time, Jack rolled sideways. The axe struck deep into the ground and stuck there.

Seeing the stuck axe, Jack faced a split-second decision to use this opportunity to attack or to flee. He chose to flee. The berserk effect on the Lizardman Chief was enormous; he was not going to risk his life for a short moment of free attacks.

He ran as fast as he could while arrows from the Lizardman Archer kept coming his way. Some missed, some lodged in his back. When the Lizardman Chief pulled out his tomahawk axe, scattering large chunks of soil in the process, Jack was already some distance away.