·overwhelmed by forces unknown, intuition often guides one in the only direction left: action. Doing something is better than doing nothing. With that in mind, Ryan shot when ominous black-red flames ignited on the blood cell.
He quickly conjured a cherry bomb and stuffed it into a bottle filled with sunlight crystals before hurling it directly at the monsters on the altar, counting down.
Thanks to the inheritance from the assassins, Ryan had unprecedented athletic abilities. The jar flew straight into an open space amidst the mummies surrounding the center of the group, and upon impact, it burst open. The monsters had no time to react.
Suddenly, the sun seemed to rise on the altar, and the monsters emitted a mournful howl, scorched by the vitality of the sunlight.
After the flash faded, Ryan squinted towards the altar. The blood cell had completely vanished, likely purified.
The monsters on the altar and those dancing around it were hit hard. Their bodies seemed burned, even though the majority of the assembled monsters beneath the altar had been fatally affected, turning into brittle carbides.
The mummies on the altar were stronger; they almost endured a full sunburst, but four of the seven survived, albeit burned to the point of resembling charred coal.
Naturally, the monsters soon discovered Ryan, the uninvited guest. They roared, and the stitched-together monsters below rushed towards Ryan's hiding spot.
Ryan turned and ran. After all, the real world is not a game. A turret-style attack output wouldn't suit most situations. He knew it was best to use his mobility to slowly consume and defeat the monsters.
As he ran, Ryan used his claw hook to latch onto the mountain walls, propelling himself forward. He threw sunlight crystals at the spliced monsters that were too close. (This is where magic comes in handy: the original assassin's claw hook rope had a complex mechanism to store the rope efficiently, but the magic stretching spell solved the contradiction between length and volume.) The sunlight crystals exploded with each impact, hindering the monsters and damaging them.
During this chase, two of the severely damaged Fusion Monsters, having pushed too far ahead, were repeatedly attacked. After taking a few more blows, it seemed they could no longer handle the damage. Once struck by a sunlight crystal, charred traces spread across their bodies, and they crumbled into carbon dust with a loud crack.
Encouraged by his small victory, Ryan planned to continue eliminating the piecing monsters with his "kite-flying" technique. But just then, a scream echoed from the altar, and suddenly, all the spliced monsters stopped chasing him. As if responding to a command, they turned around and rushed back to their starting position.
Ryan sensed something was wrong. He threw a few sunlight crystals at the retreating monsters, but they dodged, never turning back to fight him.
Clearly, these monsters had some plan in the works. Unlike the protagonists in anime, who often wait for their enemies to prepare for their move, Ryan knew there was something dangerous afoot. Now was the time to attack as much as possible before the spliced monsters regrouped, weakening them before the real assault began.
He threw sunlight crystals at a few more monsters, but the pieces of flesh on their bodies shifted, dispersing the sunlight's positive energy. The monsters quickened their pace, and Ryan's hit rate dropped.
Seeing his attempts failing, Ryan took a risk and threw out the claw hook with the rope, hoping to pull the monsters closer. But it only budged a small portion of the monster's body.
The hook failed, and Ryan had to yank it back quickly, nearly injuring himself.
Ryan then tried launching peas, flames, and psychedelic mushroom spore powder. To his frustration, the peas had recoil, pushing him farther from the monsters, and the physical damage of flames was ineffective. The range of the spore powder was simply too short.
At a corner, Ryan opted for a shortcut, darting along the stone walls to reach the front of the group of monsters. He quickly set a trip line using his claw hook, hoping to stop the monsters in their tracks. But the remaining six monsters surged forward, snapping the rope easily.
Taking advantage of the momentary slowdown, Ryan cast several spells, but despite hitting the monsters, none of them had any significant effect. It became clear that only sunlight crystals had an impact on these creatures, and other forms of magic were almost useless against them.
Ryan's efforts to stop and eliminate the monsters before they reached the altar had all been in vain. While he had left scorch marks and forced the monsters to lose some flesh, none had been completely destroyed during the pursuit. He could only watch as the monsters rounded the last corner and made their way into the clearing.
When Ryan followed and turned the corner, he was met with a terrible sight: the blood ball that he had believed to be purified now hovered in the air, releasing a blood-red mist.
The monsters began to recover as they absorbed the mist. The scorched marks on their bodies faded, revealing revolting flesh and withered skin beneath.
Had all his efforts been for nothing? Ryan thought despairingly. But upon closer inspection, he realized things were not as bad as they seemed.
The monsters he had destroyed had not revived, and the missing pieces of flesh on the stitched monsters hadn't regenerated. The mummies had recovered somewhat, but their strange tattoos had vanished.
Most importantly, the blood cell, which had been about the size of a football, was now barely the size of a baseball.
As the monsters realized Ryan was chasing them, they did not immediately attack but instead began surrounding the altar to continue their bizarre ritual.
Ryan attempted to stop them, but a blood-red mist rose around the altar, forming a barrier that blocked everything he threw. Not only did the sunlight crystals fail to pass through, but his spells were also obstructed by the mist.
Frustrated, Ryan tossed a few stones, and they passed easily through the barrier, striking the altar. This shield seemed only to block energy-based attacks. Since sunlight crystals were a form of condensed energy, they couldn't penetrate the barrier either.
Now with his main weapon useless, Ryan grew more frustrated. Was he really going to have to charge into the barrier and fight those monsters hand-to-hand?
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