novelODS Chapter 586: Holding Back
Chapter 586: Holding Back
The seven blood red nails did not move like normal throwing weapons.As soon as they left Mo Shiyun’s hand, they shot through the dusty air with a loud, high pitched scream. They were guided entirely by her mind, flying in a tight formation like a pack of homing missiles. They twisted and turned, carving wild, curved paths through the dim light of the chamber. They left thin lines of red light behind them, moving from different angles to block Gabriel’s escape and trap him from all sides.
Gabriel did not stand still to block them.
Using his Strength and Agility, he moved like a dark shadow. He did not run; he simply blurred across the stone floor, his body moving so fast that the eyes of the onlookers could not even trace his position.
In his hands, the Dragon Fang dual blades turned into a blinding wall of golden energy.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
With every step Gabriel took, his twin blades struck the incoming nails with perfect precision. Each parry was so heavy and fast that it created a mini explosion of compressed air. The loud, booming sounds shook the grand chamber, causing deep cracks to run up the ancient stone walls.
The air around the blades twisted from the sheer physical force of the clash. Bright golden and red sparks showered the floor, lighting up the terrified faces of the bystanders.
"He... he is parrying them..." Liang whispered, his voice trembling as he lay on the cold stone. His chest felt heavy, and it was hard for him to draw a single breath, yet his eyes were locked on the fight.
He was watching a human fight an ancient legend with nothing but raw physical power. There was no qi. There was no magic. It was just pure, monstrous strength clashing against iron.
Mo Shiyun’s eyes narrowed behind her bone mask. She let out a cold grunt and flicked her hand again.
The seven blood red nails suddenly changed direction midair. Instead of flying straight, they looped backward, aiming directly at Gabriel’s blind spots from behind, while three of them charged directly at his chest to lock him in place.
She was trying to box him in completely, leaving him no room to dodge or swing his blades.
Gabriel saw the trap instantly. His eyes, calm and cold behind his mask, did not even blink.
Burrow Shift!
Right as the seven nails were about to pierce his body from all directions, Gabriel’s figure dissolved. He vanished directly into the solid stone floor, sinking into a ripple of dark shadow.
A millisecond later, the seven blood red nails slammed into the exact spot where he had been standing.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive purple demonic explosion erupted. The blast was so violent that it tore a huge, jagged crater into the stone floor, throwing massive chunks of rock and thick clouds of black dust into the air. The physical wind from the explosion rushed across the chamber, blowing the hair and clothes of the weakened survivors on the floor.
Mo Shiyun smiled behind her mask, believing she had crushed the annoying otherworlder into bloody pieces.
But her smile did not last.
Swoosh!
Directly in front of her face, the stone floor split open with a loud crack. Gabriel shot out of the ground like a volcanic eruption, his body propelled upward by pure, monstrous speed that defied the gravity of the tomb.
While still in the air, Gabriel gripped his Dragon Fang dual blades tightly. He threw his entire physical weight forward, bringing both blades down in a devastating double downward strike aimed directly at Mo Shiyun’s head.
Mo Shiyun’s eyes widened in shock behind her bone mask. The speed of his counterattack was too fast, and the pressure of his descent was like a falling mountain. She did not have time to dodge to the side.
"Return!" she screamed, her voice losing its calm, polite tone.
With a desperate wave of her hand, she forced the seven nails to fly back at maximum speed. They flew in front of her face, crossing over each other to form a small metallic shield just as Gabriel’s blades arrived.
BANG!!!!!
The collision of the twin blades against the metal nails was like a bomb going off in a closed room.
A massive wave of pure physical force and dark aura exploded from the point of contact. The shockwave was so powerful that it rumbled through the entire mountain base, sending deep vibrations through the walls of the tomb.
Behind them, the grand archway cracked and crumbled. The damaged bridge chamber they had crossed earlier could no longer hold under the violent shaking. With a deafening roar, the stone ceiling of the bridge chamber caved in completely. Thousands of tons of rock crashed into the dark river below, causing a massive wave of red water to flood into the lower tunnels.
The ground beneath Mo Shiyun’s boots shattered into dust.
Even though she had blocked the strike, the raw, unpenalized strength behind Gabriel’s blow was too massive. The force traveled through her nails and straight into her arms. She felt her wrists pop, and she was forced back three steps, her leather boots sliding across the stone and leaving deep grooved marks in the floor.
Gabriel landed lightly on his feet, his dark coat slowly settling as he raised his twin blades once more. His breathing was perfectly even, and his posture was as steady and immovable as a mountain.
He looked at her with a calm, cold gaze.
"Is that all your legend has to offer?" Gabriel asked softly, his flat voice echoing through the battlefield. "If that’s all, then I’ll say I’m disappointed because I am not even using my full power."
At those words, not only did Mo Shiyun’s eyes widen, but even the others present in the room were shocked.
What did he mean by he was not using his full strength?
"You are bluffing," Mo Shiyun replied, refusing to believe it.
But that was the truth... because he didn’t want to reveal his identity as Broken Heaven. Since Sophie and Cassie were present, he deliberately limited the skills he used.
That meant... if he were to go all out as Broken Heaven, then this fight would already be over.
VV, who had little grasp of the kind of person Gabriel was, knew he wasn’t lying, which further strengthened their decision to train under him if they survived this.