Chapter 263 Joining The Fray (5)

"What the..."

"...hell is happening?"

As the Knights of Hauler, along with Basil's family they escorted and the ten Shadows following closely behind them, were just 15 meters away from reaching Familia Hotel, they were greeted by three Minotaur Warriors and a row of Middle Class Demons.

They had been wondering about why they didn't encounter any Demon on their way to the hotel, but now that they had got the answer to their question, they couldn't help gulping dryly.

Putting aside their intimidating appearance, the aura the group of Demons were exuding was terrifying enough to cause the Green Core Knights having goosebumps.

If not for the fact that all of the Knights were, at least, on the Yellow Core Knights, all of them would have crumbled under the pressure.

"What are we going to do now?" Sylvia whispered softly to Thompson. "I don't believe that my distraction will work in this situation, so we need to think of a way to face them."

"They don't show any intention to attack us yet, so we have to use this time to concoct a plan to eliminate them," Steven suggested.

"No, you are missing the point why they are not moving." Effie shook her head bitterly. "We are already surrounded."

"What are you..." Thompson and the others looked weirdly at Effie at first. Upon looking at the direction she was pointing at however, none of them could say a single word.

They had been counting on their Qi Wave to detect the presence of the Demons, paying no mind to their surroundings, which according to their Qi Wave had nothing that could endanger them, therefore, only now did they notice the Demons on their sides.

They didn't know how the Demons hid their presence so well, they couldn't notice it, but they reacted to the Demons' appearance calmly. They could easily tell the Demons weren't as dangerous as the ones standing in front of them.

"We need to take care of the Minotaur Warriors first," Thompson whispered to his party. "Steven, Effie, and I will take each one of the Minotaur by ourselves, so I will leave the rest to Norman, Jake, and Sylvia."

"Can't you come up with a good plan instead of just assigning us our task?" Sylvia asked nervously.

"I am sorry, this is the only way I can think of. We can't fight in Formation in this situation since we fight the Monsters to protect, not to win—we have to also pay close attention to Basil's family."

"What about those shady people?"

Thompson glanced at the Shadows. "They are going to take the Monsters sandwiching us from the sides."

No words were exchanged between the people afterwards as they were too busy preparing themselves to engage in battle with the Demons in front of them. Other than that, they were also nervous about the outcome of the battle.

Thompson grasped his sword tightly as he looked at the Demons standing a few meters away from he and his party. His heart raced as he imagined himself fighting one of the 8 meters tall Minotaur Warriors, but he didn't have any intention to back down.

He was determined to slay the Minotaur Warrior, so he could bring his party back to safety.

Like he had said earlier, they didn't fight the Demons to win, but to protect. Their main objective was to take Basil's family safely to the hotel, so they didn't need to defeat all of the Demons to do that.

They only needed to part the Demon rank, so they could pass through it and enter Familia Hotel. They would be protected from the Demons by the Barrier surrounding the hotel as long as they managed to enter it.

Screech!

There was no warcry could be heard from the Shadows, but the Qi overwhelming the air and the scream of the Demons signified that they had begun their attack on the Demons.

The Minotaur Warriors also began to move afterwards, so Thompson, Steven, and Effie took that as a cue to engage in battle with the Demons. As for the rest of the party, they went for the Demons other than the Minotaur Warriors.

"[Archer of Doom: Chaotic Arrow]!"

Effie immediately used one of her sure kill Techniques that could not only harm the Minotaur Warrior, but also kill the Demons around them right off the bat. She wanted to help her friends by killing some of the smald Demons.

The arrow Effie sent that was made of the Qi her Blue Core produced, passed through the air like flash. It took the arrow less than a minute to hit the chest of the Minotaur Warrior she had targeted.

As said Demon thought that she could never hurt it in the slightest, it didn't even try to block her arrow. Therefore, the moment the arrow in its chest exploded into smaller arrows—further injuring its chest and the Demons beside it—it was extremely baffled.

ROAR!

Screech!

Indignant due to the humiliation it had just experienced, the Minotaur Warrior that Effie had just injured immediately dashed at her. It didn't even bother to watch for its fellows, as it crushed whatever was in front of it.

Compared to the Minotaur Warriors that she had faced in her entire life, Effie had never seen one that could run so fast with such a big body. Therefore, when it rapidly eliminated the distance between them, she widened her eyes in panic.

"I got you! [Matter Augmentation: Elongation]!"

Bam!

Luckily, just a moment before the Minotaur Warrior could reach Effie, Thompson, who had somehow arrived beside her, struck the Demon in its chest with his elongating sword that was also under the influence of Steven's [Center of Gravity].

Said Demon was thrown away to the back due to the amazing combo—crashing onto the other Minotaur Warriors that were about to dash at the three Knights.

"This is exhilarating as much as it is terrifying. We have only engaged in battle with them for less than a minute, but the amount of labour these bastards put us into is ridiculous," Steve exclaimed.

"I think it's because of their pressure." Thompson inhaled deeply to calm his racing heart down. "Effie will never know it since she is a long-range fighter, but the pressure the Minotaur Warrior is exuding is no joke!"

As the Demons living behind the Barrier of the Obelisk possessed much denser Demonic Mana, which was the most chaotic form of Mana, Steven and Thompson couldn't handle the pressure they exuded up close.

It wasn't that they were poisoned by the constant exposure of the Demonic Mana, but the Mana the Demons, the Minotaur Warriors in particular, exuded evoked a sense of inharmony within them. It was messing with their psyche—uncomfortably unbearable.

"I got a plan, but it's a crude one," Effie exclaimed. "Will you guys help me execute it?"

"I don't care how crude the plan is, a plan is a plan. I'm in!"

"Tell us what to do!"

At Thompson and Steven's confirmation, Effie immediately pulled the string of her bow once again. Her Qi flowed into her hand, her fingers, then formed a blue string that rapidly turned into an arrow.

A huge amount of Blue Core Knight's Qi overwhelmed the surrounding air, even causing Thompson and Steven, who were beside Effie, to tremble slightly.

Effie had just used a good chunk of her Qi to power the deadliest Technique she currently possessed in her hands. She was already sweating bullets at this point, but she still didn't let go of the arrow.

The pressure the arrow was exuding was getting heavier in each passing second, even causing Effie, the one using the Technique, to tremble. The Minotaur Warriors were also alarmed by the pressure, so they immediately dashed towards Effie to stop her.

"[Archer of Doom: Arrow of Annihilation]!"

At the same moment, Effie also let go of her arrow. Unlike her previous arrow that had moved so fast, no one could properly perceive it, this arrow was visible to the eyes of the onlookers.

The reason why everyone could perceive the arrow however wasn't because it was moving at a slow speed, but the danger the people's mind registered.

Minds work at an incredible speed in times of danger. As they sensed a doom that was close to them, their mind worked so fast to find an escape, they could even see the arrow that was moving extremely fast.

BOOM!

Regardless of their capability to see the arrow, it had nothing to do with the outcome; none of them could stop the arrow. As the arrow touched the body of the Minotaur Warrior that Effie had targeted, an explosion of dense Qi occured.

The humans could heave a sigh at the scene as the arrow wasn't directed at them, but the Demons were currently experiencing hell. Their strong body that had been cultivated since they were born allowed them to enjoy every pain the Technique brought them.

Screech!

Effie immediately kneeled on the ground in exhaustion as she had used up more than half of her Qi. Thompson and Steven wanted to help her stand, but she refused their help and motioned towards the Qi explosion instead.

"Once the situation calms down, immediately finish them! Their regeneration speed is so absurd, as long as their head is not cut, they can heal any of their injury in 20 seconds!"

"Holy crap! Is that the plan you are talking about?"

"I have to agree with Steven—it is way cruder than I initially thought."

"It was your decision to help me!"

Thompson and Steven chuckled lightly at Effie who they had annoyed, then grasped their sword tighter. Their heart raced as they looked at the gradually dissipating Qi in front of them.

As they didn't want to waste Effie's effort however, instead of waiting until the leftover Qi her Technique had left behind dissipated, the moment they could see the shadow of the three Minotaur Warriors behind the Qi, they immediately dashed forward.

Effie was absolutely terrified at the two Knights' decision as she was sure they wouldn't be able to handle her high pressured Qi that hadn't dissipated yet.

'Instead of killing the Minotaur Warriors, they are killing themselves!' She screamed inside her head.

Much to her surprise however, not only could the two Knights' survive her high pressured Qi, they could also successfully cut the three Minotaur Warriors' head.

With the three Minotaur Warriors' death as the beginning, the Demons were losing the battle in each passing second. In result, Basil's family could reach the hotel safely.

Everyone was relieved at that, but they knew the battle hadn't ended yet.