68 Chapter 68. Dominated in Close Combat

Samantha was confused as to why they stopped. Gilbert on the other hand was more aware of the situation; the Priest in front of them was the leader of the group of cultists stationed in this place. That Priest was the one who had been interrogating him all this time and thus Gilbert understood how precarious their current situation was.

"Who are you?" the Priest asked, but after seeing Gilbert and Samantha, he chuckled. "Oh, you come to rescue them?"

'Crap!' Jack thought, 'out of all the cultists that were in this place, why did it have to be him?' He was truly convinced now that his luck had run dry after obtaining the Container of Souls, but he was not one to just give up without trying.

"Continue with the plan! Run as fast as you can!" Jack whispered to Gilbert and Samantha as he lunged at the Priest slashing with his sword.

Since the beginning, the Priest hadn't shown any sign of alarm. Even as Jack came at him, his face maintained its calm. Before Jack's sword made contact with his body, the Priest's hand quivered and a long mace appeared.

He swung the mace with a speed that was almost untraceable to human's eyes. His mace made contact with Jack's sword. Jack felt like he had been hit by a truck as the mace slapped his sword aside and the momentum threw him several meters back. Gilbert and Samantha, who were about to make their run for it, froze when they saw this.

Jack kept his balance with difficulty. He prevented himself from falling to the ground. His hand was still trembling from the impact. He was flabbergasted; he thought that, because the cultist was called a Priest, he should be magic-based class. But clearly the guy was a physical class, Jack's plan to harass the Priest in melee flew out the window now.

Hasty footsteps could be heard coming from all directions. Numerous Acolytes appeared from inside the warehouse and from both side yards. They were just about to attack when the Priest stopped them.

He then looked at Gilbert and said, "Our patience is running thin, Gilbert. Our God has sent instructions: if you are still unwilling to give us the item, we are to execute you today."

Gilbert's expression was defiant as he replied, "You are wasting your breath. I'll never cooperate with you, you fanatic scum!"

"Suit yourself," the Priest's tone turned steely, "I will start by killing this woman in front of you first!"

The Priest took a step forward as he lifted his long mace high. Samantha cowered from the sight. Her legs were about to give out from terror! But just as the mace swept down, a shadow stepped in front of her.

Jack held his staff with two hands and took the Priest's blow on his Magic Shield. His knees buckled from the force and he half knelt down on the ground. The damage from the mace completely exceeded the amount that the shield could absorb; a damage of 68 appeared above Jack's head.

Jack didn't stay passive though, as the force dissipated, his right hand let go of the staff and reequipped the Storm Breaker. He attacked with Power Strike to the Priest's unarmored waist. The Priest was pushed back two steps as he suffered 98 damage.

Jack was dismayed.  This powerful strike that had scored around 140 damage to an Acolyte was much less effective against this Priest. With the Priest's 24,000 HP, this damage was just a scratch.

The Priest looked at the sword mark on his waist.

"Interesting," he grinned. "Let's change the first person to be killed then."

Unlike Bowler and Flame, Jack couldn't send his current two companions a silent message, so he had no choice but to shout out his intention, "make for that small door! I will hold them!"

"Ridiculous," the Priest said when he heard Jack's words.

Jack lunged at the Priest, hoping that Gilbert and Samantha wouldn't waste these precious seconds by staying in their places. At the same time, he cast Energy Bolts to one side; the Bolts would automatically search for enemies in that direction. Jack hoped the spell would be enough to hinder the Acolytes while he kept the Priest busy. In this way, Gilbert and Samantha should have a large enough window to run to the exit door.

The Priest responded by lifting his mace high. Jack knew that he was no match for the Priest's strength and speed. He was paying attention to the priest's shoulder; once it moved, he would be ready to evade. The key was to quickly identify whether the Priest was making a horizontal or vertical swing.

  Jack's reaction was barely fast enough as he side-stepped and narrowly evaded the Priest's vertical swing. The ground cracked as the mace slammed onto it. He was just about to counterattack when he saw the Priest's arm moving again. Jack canceled his attack and held his weapon by his side in a Parry just as the mace slammed into him.

He was sent flying into the fence with 82 damage. He had used defensive skills on both occasions, but the damage was still so high! He couldn't imagine how much the damage would be if he suffered a direct hit from that mace. At this rate, his 590 HP would soon be depleted.

The only good thing was that Gilbert and Samantha hadn't frozen in place. The old man was pulling on the baker's hand as they rushed towards the small door in the fence.

Jack was just about to get back up to his feet when he felt pressure from above. He looked up and saw a ball of light coming down like a meteor. It crashed right in front of the fence's door, creating a shockwave that pushed the fleeing pair back several steps. The ground before the fence's door caved in from the blast. The Priest's long mace protruded from the center of the crater, deeply embedded in the ground.

"You think you can escape so easily?" The Priest laughed. The Acolytes were advancing, but they were again stopped by the Priest. He was very confident that he alone was enough to keep these three mice from escaping.

Samantha was disoriented from the blast. Gilbert held onto her body to keep her from falling to the ground. Jack once again put himself between them and the Priest. Gilbert was astonished by Jack's action. The young adventurer in front of him was a stranger, yet he was willing to put his life on the line for them. If he left them behind and focused on escaping, he should still be able to make it out, but instead, he insisted on staying and protecting them.

They had no way of knowing that Jack was really not that noble; he simply thought that, even if he died in this clash, as long as the duo managed to escape, it was still worth it. He needed them both alive to complete his quests. Although there would still be a penalty for dying in the city, with his Immortal Soul skill, he would only lose 50% of his experience instead of losing one whole level. This was a good trade-off as long as he could complete his quests.

"He has lost his weapon. Go through the door! Don't worry about me," Jack said to the two.

"Heh," the Priest still wore his mocking grin.

Jack cast Mana Bullet at the Priest. Now that the Priest no longer held his mace, his menace should be much reduced. Or so Jack thought before the Priest vanished abruptly.  The Mana Bullet only hit his afterimage. He suddenly appeared beside Jack.

Jack's reaction was fast enough to make an instinctive slash towards the Priest who suddenly appeared, but his sword was stopped by the Priest's hand. Jack felt as if his sword had hit solid steel instead of a human arm.

The Priest sent a simple punch to Jack's gut. Jack had the breath knocked out of him as his body bent forward. He then felt two rapid blows on his face. His mind was going blank as his back hit the ground, but he fought through the pain and immediately regained his focus and pushed himself up. His HP was down to half now.

He was dumbfounded. Though the damage from the Priest's attacks had been reduced after he let go of his mace, his movements were even faster. Furthermore, the way he used his unarmed strikes was like a professional boxer; he was completely dominating Jack in this close combat brawl.