The next moment, the hand Andrew had grabbed was suddenly empty. Pompey had used spatial movement to break free and create distance.
But for Andrew, who could keep his eyes on the entire battlefield, it didn't matter where it reappeared.
Pompey's spatial jumps weren't infinite. Thanks to Phaethon's bestiary, Andrew already knew its maximum jump distance.
This was where the temporarily modified shock ammo came into play. Andrew swiped a hand over the Slinger on his left arm, loading a bullet already crackling with golden-yellow plasma.
The instant Pompey emerged from the void, the shock ammo, fired a split second later, had already struck its body.
The faint golden sparks erupted into a blinding flash, engulfing Pompey in a torrent of electricity that froze all its subsequent movements.
His attack successful, Andrew charged forward, quickly reaching Pompey. But in just two short seconds, it had already recovered some mobility.
Its struggling movements were interrupted by momentary paralysis from the electric current, yet the blade aimed at Andrew remained incredibly steady.
But for Andrew, a moment's stiffness was more than enough, not to mention the sluggish movements caused by the electricity.
A heavy, powerful Advancing Slash came crashing down, striking the exact same joint on Pompey's arm that he had hit before.
With this direct hit, the wrist, already bearing a deep gash, finally gave way completely.
The enormous arm-blade fell from its wrist. Pompey's greatest threat was gone, reducing it to a tiger with its fangs and claws pulled.
As the Advancing Slash ended, Andrew pressed his wrists down and thrust both arms forward, driving the tachi's blade into a swift stab.
The thrust, like a one-inch punch, struck Pompey in the abdomen. The fierce blow sent it stumbling, interrupting the spatial jump it was about to attempt.
Landing the hit, Andrew's assault continued without pause. A sweeping slash from his tachi tore across Pompey's chest, followed by a vertical slash that left a deep wound.
And now came the truly fatal attack.
Spinning with the momentum, he brought the tachi up in a rising slash. A Spirit Step Slash sent Pompey stumbling back two steps.
And Andrew showed no mercy to his enemies. The subsequent flurry of strikes from the third stage of his Spirit Blade Combo left Pompey reeling and on the verge of collapse.
After executing the third stage, it was only natural to unleash the finale of the Spirit Blade Combo—the most powerful strike of all.
The power within him surged to its peak. Andrew crouched slightly, a crimson glow flashing across his body, then swung the tachi out like a whirlwind.
"Spirit Roundslash!"
The great blade carved a perfect arc through the air, slicing Pompey in two.
After the blade passed, Pompey's body, still faintly crackling with electricity, froze completely. Then, as if realizing it only after a delay, its upper half slowly slid off along the fine line of the cut.
The clean cross-section was as smooth as a mirror. Even the evolved Pompey was no different from a common Ethereal in Andrew's hands, meeting the same fate.
As the top half slid away, Pompey's standing lower body finally succumbed to gravity and collapsed to the ground.
As he sheathed the tachi behind him, a pure white glow emerged, completely enveloping the blade.
And just like that, Pompey, which had been just one step away from Tier 4, was killed quickly and decisively by Andrew. The "big shield guy plus teleporting dog" combo had been completely dismantled.
Andrew picked up the blade that had been severed from Pompey and stored it in his pack. He ignored the other materials that weren't ready for immediate carving, since Caesar was still fighting the Dullahan.
Just then, a faint sound reached Andrew's ears, like the soft padding of a hound's paws on the ground.
The sound was quiet, almost imperceptible, but as a veteran hunter, there was no way Andrew could have misheard it.
In just a few seconds, the Dullahan had used its abundant energy to rapidly repair the various wounds on its body.
The white armor, which had originally only covered its right arm and right hip, had now spread across its entire right side, even reaching the prominent spike on its left chest.
Along with the color change, those parts of its body grew even tougher, and the few white spikes on its left-hand shield had multiplied to cover the entire upper half.
Its arm-blade, which had already turned from red to green, now grew even longer and sleeker, shaped like a lightning bolt. The swirling Ether energy surrounding it elevated its danger by another level.
Faced with a Dullahan that was not only fully healed but also even stronger, Caesar showed no sign of retreat. Instead, she seemed even more eager for a fight.
She subconsciously gave the one-handed sword in her right hand a flourish. The moment it settled back in her grip, before the Dullahan could attack, Caesar had already raised "I See" before her and charged.
The Dullahan, having just finished its evolution, saw Caesar charging at it and immediately threw its shield between them.
"CLANG!"
The clash of the shields produced a loud, sharp clang. The immense force sent both Caesar and the Dullahan stumbling back a step to dissipate the impact.
But the Dullahan, being the stronger of the two, recovered its stance faster. It raised its arm-blade and brought it down in a vicious slash from the right.
Caesar, who hadn't fully regained her balance, knew that if she tried to block this blow with her shield, she'd be knocked to the ground, completely surrendering the initiative.
If she couldn't stabilize, then she'd embrace the instability.
She dodged the attack by a hair's breadth with a roll to the Dullahan's right side, the passing blade slicing off a few strands of her hair.
As the Dullahan's slash ended, caught in that moment between moves when its old momentum was spent and new strength hadn't gathered, Caesar sprang up from her crouch. Pushing off with both legs, she slammed "I See" on her left arm forward, crashing it violently into the Dullahan's side.
The "I Come" in her right hand wasn't just for show, either. The shortsword shot out from between the spikes on the side of "I See," aimed straight ahead.
As the shield crashed into the Dullahan's flank, "I Come" plunged directly into a gap between the white plates of its side armor.
The Dullahan, which had just fully recovered, roared in anger at being wounded again and swept its left-arm shield out violently. But Caesar once again evaded the furious blow with a backward roll.
But the Dullahan's attacks were never that simple. The shield that had missed its target spun and slammed into the ground, followed by a flash of purple Ether light.
_____
🔥 The latest chapters are being posted! 🔥
🪦 Join the community on P... with a 25% discount!
✅ Read up to 40 chapters in advance (all stories)!
✅ Access exclusive posts and updates first!
Let's achieve our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 extra chapter for everybody
🚀 80 MEMBERS = +5 additional chapters on ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan