•••
Triss was feeling elated at successfully gunning down one of the Vykers, specifically one who had similar abilities to the one who she had been mostly helpless against the last ti she had been unfortunate enough to get into a battle against a Vyker.
She looked back at the others and saw them on their knees, nursing bruises sustained from their fall while casting their eyes all over the courtyard to look at fights still ongoing.
Triss' eyes found Henry first and she watched as the Shadow Vyker stabbed his sword through his back with Henry in place with hardly enough ti to react and move out of the way.
*Gasp!*
Triss covered her mouth with one of her hands as her eyes widened in horror,
"Henry!" She yelled.
Henry heard her yell but it sounded so faint and was so drowned out by the fact that his attention was almost completely captured by the System's alert;
[You have lost 50 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 20/70]
Henry looked down at the blade sticking out of his chest as blood dripped out the two corners of his mouth. The System's way of calculating damage was already in place and his wounds, internal and external had stopped bleeding but not before filling his lungs with blood and montarily making it difficult for him to breathe.
When the Shadow Vyker pulled out his sword with a gloating smile, Henry's back arched for a second before he fell forward but the Shadow Vyker swung his sword the next second and cut a long gash across his back.
"Argh!" Henry yelled out in pain.
[You have lost 18 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 2/70]
Henry was sure that the second strike should have killed him.
Had he not been sure to die the very next second, he might have sworn the System had preserved him with that asly 2 Hit points that would be gone if his head hit the ground too hard.
Of course, Henry had no intention of eting such a dreary fate.
In the seconds it took before he hit the ground, he pulled out two Healing Potions from his Inventory and downed them both at the sa ti before his body hit the ground with a dull *thud*.
[You have recovered 20 Hit Points]
[You have recovered 20 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 42/70]
The empty potion bottles hit the ground and shattered just as the Shadow Vyker stabbed his sword toward Henry's back but, ever the gallant steed, Nyx was there, whinnying with a furious aggression as she struck her hooves toward the bastard that dared try to stab her bond.
The Vyker evaded Nyx's stomps by coating himself with a shadow that increased his already impressive agility. The short exchange successfully interrupted the stab that would likely have killed Henry right there and then.
Henry got back to his feet and shot 'The Hydra's Sting'.
The Shadow Vyker dodged the bullet as he had managed to do once before and charged at Henry.
Nyx moved to intercept but Henry knew she was likely not going to make it in ti to save him so he called out the skill he thought he needed the most,
[Activating ]
Everything froze.
Henry saw the trajectory of the Shadow Vyker's coming attack and he knew the Vyker wouldn't fake it only to strike from another side because he was confident of overpowering him.
Henry could tell what his opponent was likely thinking; 'What's the point of being sneaky when none of my attacks ever miss?'
Turning his perception away from the Vyker, Henry 'saw' Nyx galloping, and just as he had guessed, she wasn't going to make it in ti. He was going to get slashed. The best he could hope for was to reduce the damage.
Ti resud and like an elastic band snapping band snapping back in place after the tension pulling at it was released, Henry's body obeyed the command his mind had been yelling at it for two seconds and managed to move an inch to the back.
The Vyker made a vertical slash that cut through Henry's skin and drew blood but it was not as deep as he would have wished.
[You have lost 24 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 18/70]
Henry gritted his teeth.
'To think an attack that's not too deep costs that much Hit Points. The difference in strength hurts like a bitch!'
As loud as he lanted in his head, Henry retained a presence of mind. His body continued to move back even after he was slashed because the command his mind had delivered was still in place and so, enduring the pain he was feeling, Henry yelled,
"NYX!"
Nyx imdiately obeyed his call.
She let out an angry whine but changed the direction of her gallop to dash toward Henry instead.
The mont Nyx was within one foot of him, Henry grabbed her reins and, without her stopping or pausing her run, he pulled himself into her saddle and they galloped many feet away from the Shadow Vyker.
"Thank you, girl," Henry said as he patted her neck. They had turned around now and were facing the Shadow Vyker with feet of distance between them.
"Alright girl," Henry whispered to Nyx, and the way her ears perked told him she was listening,
"We're going to have to work together. When I give you the word, I'll need you to pivot.
Can you do that?"
Nyx whined and harrumphed. Thanks to their bond, Henry knew she was confused so he explained further,
"When I say 'Pivot', I an I'll need you to turn suddenly on your front legs in any direction I tell you."
Henry brought the image of what he ant to his mind and Nyx whinnied. This ti the sound was confident and she raised her head while shaking her mane gallantly.
"Good," Henry told her with a smile, "Now, go!"
Nyx leaped into a gallop, charging toward the Shadow Vyker.
The Shadow Vyker stood in place with a grin.
The Dionisio gang watched with bated breath with no one thinking of interfering.
Henry's eyes were focused. He pulled out a Mana recovery potion from his Inventory and drank it.
[You have recovered 20 Mana Points]
[Mana Points: 35/80]
Henry wanted to make sure when he shot the shadow Vyker, it would be the end of him and because he didn't trust the attack to the job, he aid to use .
There was only a foot of distance left between Nyx and the Shadow Vyker. Henry saw the Shadow Vyker get coated with dark mist to make his dodge and instantly activated .
The reason Nyx had missed most of her planned collision so far was because, as intelligent as she had beco, her actions were still simple and easy to predict. She charged forward always and all the Shadow Vyker had to do was move out of the way.
When ti froze, the Shadow Vyker was in the midst of his motion and the blur that followed his motion betrayed the direction he was going to move in.
Ti resud and the Shadow Vyker vanished from the spot he had been in as Henry yelled,
"Nyx, to the left!"
Imdiately, Nyx stopped short and reared her hind legs before swinging and smacking her backside blindly in obedience to Henry's command.
*BAM!*
She struck the Shadow Vyker in the very second he solidified and got ready to swing his sword.
"Umph!" The Vyker let out as he was sent flying away.
His eyes widened in shock but thanks to his presence of mind and his impressive agility, he recovered quickly enough to attempt to plan a counter attack starting with a dodge from whatever attack was coming.
A bullet to the neck quickly put all those thoughts to bed.
Apart from knowing where to tell Nyx to pivot to, Henry had also used his Perception to posit a destination the Vyker would land in after Nyx struck him.
The calculation wasn't precise but it cut down aiming ti. This combined with the second the Shadow Vyker spent shocked and the [Marksmanship] skill activated, how could Henry possibly miss?
[You have activated Acidic Combustion]
[-20 Mana Points]
The Shadow Vyker's eyes, which had returned to normal from its previously shocked state widened in horror as the bullet wound in his neck began to bubble. His eyes went to Henry as his mouth fell open and blood, tinged with acidic green, gushed out.
The bubbling in the Vyker's neck continued and spread to his head before finally, it reached a crescendo and exploded.
The headless carcass remained 'seated' for a second more before it keeled over backward and hit the ground with a *thud* in an almost codic fashion.
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