Because of the shield's augmentation, even the low-Agility Chris was capable of executing an extreme burst of movement, crossing 24 meters in exactly one second. Simultaneously, bolstered by [Shield Master], the Cyclops Head shield's innate "Single Horn Pierce" ability practically doubled in both its penetration power and bleeding effect.
Although the skin-tight bodysuits worn by the Red Name twins were Rare blue-grade equipment, they clearly didn't excel in high defense. Once pierced, they would undoubtedly be left with a hole the size of a bowl.
However, just as the thick, jagged horn was about to plunge into the chest armor, which was composed of a small amount of fat and a massive amount of mammary glands, a sudden blast of fierce wind erupted from Yasha's body. Almost without any preceding warning, she launched herself into the air. Angling her body, she executed a maneuver akin to a lateral flying kick. Spinning 360 degrees mid-air, her left leg whipped around like a spinning blade, colliding violently with the single horn jutting from the Cyclops Head!
A violent explosion echoed through the narrow alley, startling the observing crows into scattering in all directions.
Having delivered a gorgeous kick at the critical moment to successfully extricate herself, Yasha seemed to borrow the repulsive force from striking the horn. Her body sailed through the air, landing softly over ten meters away.
Chris's charge came to an abrupt, grinding halt. It appeared the attack had indeed achieved a forced knockback effect, but the physical damage that should have been inflicted by [Flash Charge] didn't seem to affect her at all.
Yasha had indeed safely escaped a charge that would have practically sheared off half her health bar, but she didn't walk away completely unscathed. The instant she activated her skill, her own HP plummeted by 20%.
[Bushin-ryu Cyclone Kick]. The skill's blueprint originated from Guy, the 39th successor of the Bushin-ryu Ninjutsu in the classic beat 'em up Final Fight.
In the modern gaming landscape, the "Cyclone Kick" move was practically standard equipment for a massive number of fighting game characters, varying only slightly in visual execution. At their core, they were all leaping maneuvers that launched a 360-degree kick attack. However, Yasha's variant was slightly different because it belonged to the beat 'em up genre. In industry terms, it was more commonly defined as a "Health-Draining Invincibility Skill," or a Mega Crash.
It was a technique that could theoretically be forcefully activated in almost any situation. At the cost of sacrificing a portion of the user's own health, it unleashed an attack that, while lacking in massive damage, carried an immensely high "knockback value." It was designed to send surrounding enemies flying, breaking sieges and providing immediate relief.
This type of move was implemented in countless arcade beat 'em up games. Furthermore, executing these moves usually granted temporary invincibility frames. Meaning, during the animation where health was sacrificed to attack, the user was temporarily immune to any external damage from enemies.
Yasha's [Bushin-ryu Cyclone Kick] naturally didn't possess the comprehensive, Star-Power level of absolute invincibility, but it did nullify conventional physical attacks during its active frames. She had absorbed the kinetic impact of Chris's [Flash Charge], utilizing the clash to avoid the fatal danger of being locked into a close-quarters melee struggle.
Meanwhile, on the other side, even as she screamed a warning to her younger sister, the older twin Demon Princess remained kneeling on one knee, one hand resting lightly on the ground.
The exact instant Chris knocked Yasha back, a surge of energy flowed from Demon Princess's body. Following that, from the palm resting against the concrete, a shockwave violent enough to tear apart the very earth blasted forward, surging straight toward Chris.
[Earth Shattering Smash]!
Chris was currently locked in a brief state of hit-stun following his clash with Yasha. Furthermore, possessing only his baseline Agility stats, he had absolutely no way to mount an effective response in time.
But do not forget, on Chris's side, there was still a teammate.
Another flash of emerald light descended from the heavens, landing with pinpoint accuracy directly in the inevitable path of the [Earth Shattering Smash]. The instant the two forces collided, a moderately sized explosion of residual energy erupted.
"He has backup! He really is backed by a Guild!"
In the distance, Yasha tracked the flight trajectory of the glowing green arrow. As her eyes narrowed, she didn't hesitate to pop open the canister holding her Scoutflies, decisively burning their final usage count.
It was only now that the twins were truly waking up from the blinding greed induced by the [Knight Armor]. Both reached the simultaneous conclusion that Chris had already found a backer, and had used the Knight Armor to trade for Captain America's Shield and its matching skills.
Of course, this was a coincidental, massive misunderstanding.
Irene had entered the dungeon before Chris, classifying her as Player Slot 1. When Chris, Player Slot 2, accepted his mission, three vacant mission slots remained. The twins had occupied Slots 3 and 4. Slot 5 was supposed to correspond to a new player with an unknown objective. Unsurprisingly, the twins currently assumed that the still-hidden Irene was Player Slot 5, who had teamed up with Chris prior to entering.
Uh, well. While the twins' analytical process was laughably off the mark, they had surprisingly arrived at the correct conclusion. Chris had indeed teamed up with someone. And it was a team-up that felt suspiciously like being a sugar baby for a wealthy patron.
Just then, Chris emerged from the settling dust of the explosion and suddenly shouted.
"Focus all your fire on killing one! Take down the one on my side first! They have a Combination Skill!"
The moment Chris opened his mouth, Demon Princess and Yasha's expressions twisted violently. They couldn't even begin to fathom how Chris suddenly knew their greatest, most closely guarded secret.
Don't let the fact that Demon Princess and Yasha loved hunting rookies as Red Name PKers fool you. This behavior actually proved a crucial point. The two of them were complete and utter cowards. They were Space-dwelling scum who only dared to raise their butchering blades against those fundamentally weaker than themselves.
As domineering and aggressive as they were when facing rookie players, they were equally as pathetic and miserable when forced to confront the Boss of a Monthly Trial's Main Mission.
As previously established, the Space's trials rarely assigned missions promising certain death or guaranteed obliteration. Even if a Main Mission failed, there would be corresponding Evacuation Tasks, a mechanic that drastically reduced the mortality rate among veteran players.
However, the core issue lay here. Some people could learn from failure, using it as a catalyst to grow stronger. Others, however, would completely break down after a defeat, resorting to constantly fleeing from the failures they should have been confronting head-on.
Demon Princess and Yasha were the latter. They had developed legitimate PTSD regarding Main Missions.
The difficulty of Bounty Missions could be manually selected, and rookie prey could be patiently vetted over time. Main Missions, however, were forcibly injected into corresponding dungeons based on a player's comprehensive strength and cumulative resource reserves.
The more extra resources they plundered from hunting rookies, the higher the overall difficulty of their resulting Main Missions became. This didn't just manifest in raw enemy strength. It also comprehensively affected mission clear conditions, the complexity of dungeon terrain, and interactions with NPCs.
Up until this point, they had already failed three consecutive Main Missions, forced to flee with their tails tucked between their legs each time.
Under normal circumstances, players only had the opportunity to earn Free Attribute Points and Free Skill Points during a Monthly Trial's Main Mission. Bounty Missions were primarily to earn Heaven's Selection Coins, equipment, skills, expand NPC networks, and explore maps or hidden storylines. Even among standard magical equipment, items inherently granting flat stat bonuses were exceedingly rare.
Chris's Gentleman Cane and Cyclops Head, both of which provided direct attribute bonuses, could functionally be considered 'rookie welfare.' They were bonus rewards directly acknowledging his courage for forcefully soloing powerful Elites like the Red Arremer and Champion-tier monsters like the Cyclops using only a mortal body during the tutorial trial.
Perhaps a properly matched piece of equipment could offer a player a qualitative leap in combat power, but flat attributes were the indestructible foundation that allowed a player to build a towering fortress from the ground up.
So, while they appeared capable of effortlessly hunting newcomers, they were entirely reliant on exploiting information disparities and excessive gear stacking to snowball advantages. If you stripped away their equipment, their baseline stats probably weren't much better than Chris's.
Furthermore, their repeated failures in Main Missions had increasingly biased their skill selection toward escapes and self-preservation.
Possessing abundant resources yet entirely lacking the requisite mental fortitude to match them... it stood to reason that even if they handn't bumped into Chris this time, they had long since set foot on a path of chronic, inevitable death.
As for how Chris realized they possessed a Combination Skill...
He formulated a bluff.
Because these two individuals, from their outfits to the skills they had just demonstrated, perfectly and highly accurately reconstructed a pair of Bosses from his memories.
Streets of Rage 3, the twin Bosses of the Stage Two 'Disco / Dance Club' area, Demon Princess and Yasha.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]