Infinite Realm

From three different angles laid three strikes that would undoubtedly heavily injure any player or monster below level 10 and all these trikes were aimed at one level 9 Elite Guard Golem. With a majority of its skills on cool-down, there was no way it could inhibit or defend against these attacks. Even if it were to make a move, with its instinctual responses and intelligence, it would only be able to defend against one of these attacks. 

Without any suspense, it chose Sato as its target. The reason was none other than Sato having severely injured it before, having a majority of its aggro fixed on him.

"Row!

With a roar, it grabbed at Sato's Astral Blade with its earth-coated left hand, ignoring Lu Zhen's strike and Xue Yan's charged up spell.

Seeing this, Sato didn't feel down or anything. On the contrary, he smirked in response, simply because he was expecting this. The real plan wasn't for him to land a hit but for Lu Zhen to do so.

"Hehe." Lu Zhen smirked as he abruptly increased his slashing speed aiming at the Guard Golem's back.

[Shadow Strike]

[Backstab] [1]

[Backstab] was one of the most impressive skills in an [Assassin]'s arsenal and the reason for this was none other than the extra penetrative force applied to the weapon. Hence, such a skill was very useful against [Guardians], [Paladins] or monsters with absurd physical defense, which in this case, the Guard Golem happened to fit the mark. But that wasn't the only reason he used the skill.

Sometime ago, Lu Zhen discovered that when he used [Backstab] on an opponent's back, the attack power actually increases! he had actually discovered this when he had a weird train of thought that made him wonder what the effects of [Backstab] would be if he actually stabbed a back. Lu Zhen believed this was a hidden feature in the skill as it wasn't in the detail of the skill. With such hidden knowledge in hand together with the extra penetrative ability of the skill, Lu Zhen felt that [Backstab] would be quite suitable to be used as trump card move especially when used with [Shadow Strike]. Now with the Guard Golem having ignored his attack while going for Sato, Lu Zhen felt that this was a very good opportunity to deliver a ton of damage. 

At the same time, the result of Sato and the Guard Golem's clash was revealed.

*Clang*

When the two forces collided, a sound akin to that of metals colliding reverberated. Sato's sword got clamped by the Guard Golem's left hand, locking it in place. And this was without the Guard Golem losing any bit of HP.

'I underestimated you…' Sato sighed a bit. He never thought that the Guard Golem would actually go uninjured when grabbing his sword. Even if it had a rocky coating on its palm, this was still a bit incomprehensible.The only explanation was that the monster was stronger than he had thought.

At the same time as Sato's sword was caught by the Guard Golem, Lu Zhen's slash had arrived.

-70 (376/100 Guard Golem B's HP)

"Row!!!" 

The Guard Golem let out a roar of pain and fury with its disabled mouth.

While Lu Zhen's attack was a success, Sato himself wasn't so nonchalant. Even though Lu Zhen was the main dealer this time around, Sato didn't plan on just watching things.

'You think my sword can just be caught with your bare hands that easily?'

Sato smirked just as the Guard Golem's left hand was still clamped hard on his sword.

'4th form : Lotus slash. [Hack]!'

At the instant the Guard Golem was in pain, a new surge of power ran through Sato's arms and was injected into his sword, abruptly increasing both its speed and power.

As if receiving a new surge of power or having taken a few pills of viagra, Sato's sword suddenly moved with an even greater amount of force, creating a crack on the palm before cutting through it like, a hot knife through butter.

Before the Guard Golem could even react to his attack, the sword approached its face and sliced at it.

[Critical!]

-95 (281/1000 Guard Golem B's HP)

Lu Zhen also didn't stop at one attack, making full use if the increased attack speed and damage of [Shadow Strike].

-34

-32

-35 ( 180/1000 Guard Golem B's HP)

In anger, the Guard Golem flailed its arms around in a bid to chase Sato and Lu Zhen away. This tactic proved useful as Sato and Lu Zhen hurriedly created some distance between themselves and the Guard Golem but there was another reason to their action of having retreated backwards; and that was because it was Xue Yan's turn.

"[Greater Fireball]!"

Sato and Lu Zhen's properly aimed strikes had done a lot to inflict multiple damages on the Guard Golem, forcing it to focus on them and ignore Xue Yan. This gave her the opportunity and space to not only close in a bit on the Guard Golem, but also make sure that her attack does not miss the target.

*Boom*

With no unexpected occurrence or suspense, the fireball struck the Guard Golem and let off a small explosion, forcing it back by three steps while also eliminating more than half of its remaining HP. In the end, the Guard Golem was left with a meager 63 HP, which anyone in Sato's team could easily drain in one or two hits.

Having lost a lot of HP in one assault, the Guard Golem had already entered its [Enraged] state, having its attributes increased by at least 10%. Despite being aware of this, Sato and Lu Zhen didn't look worried. On the contrary even, Lu Zhen was more pumped up. The Guard Golem being in its [Enraged] state could be said to be the same as it being on its last leg.

'I wonder how many exp I will get from this.' Lu Zhen's face flushed with joy. Even so, he still didn't let his guard down since a cornered rabbit could bite back viciously much less a cornered Guard Golem.

"Row!" The Guard Golem roared with ire. Its previously blue eyes had now turned red as if depicting the amount of anger and hatred the monster held against the three players.

"So who wants it?" Sato suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Xue Yan got confused.

"You don't mean…?!" Lu Zhen widened his eyes.

"I'm level 9 already. The amount of experience points it would give me would be negligible compared to what you guys would receive. So, who wants it?" Sato glanced at the two.

Xue Yan was shocked at Sato's statement. This was a level 9 monster! Even if he was already a level 9 player, this was an Elite monster. It would still give him a sizeable amount of Hp. Even at that, Sato thought nothing of it.

"In that case, I might as well forfeit. I'm level 8 so compared to the level 7 Xue Yan over here, I won't benefit much." Lu Zhen spread his hands out.

"I, I-"

"It's coming." Sato directly cut her off. The Guard Golem was already enraged. This added to the fact that it was a monster that moved based off of its instinct, there was no way it would just stand by and watch them.

"Row!!" 

The Guard Golem used [Earth Roar] again, destabilising the players' movement. With its increased stats, the effect were much better than before but because Sato and Lu Zhen had already distanced themselves from the monster, the effect was a bit weaker, taking only 37 HP away from them both. As for Xue Yan, she had more points in her [Willpower] stats than they did, hence she only lost 38 HP. To the team, this was negligible as a few vials of Health Potions could easily solve this defect.

"Xue Yan, we will try and give you the perfect opportunity. Take it down in one strike." Sato said to her as her dashed towards the Guard Golem in a bid to get its attention focused on him.

"Okay." Xue Yan nodded.

If someone else where here, they would have thought Sato was joking with his statement. This was a level 9 Elite earth-type monster! And he wanted to take it down in one strike?! Even if it only had 63 HP left, no regular player could finish it in one strike. They would need at least two or three and these would have to be direct ones; without being blocked or interrupted. The more shocking fact for an outsider would be the fact that Xue Yan had actually agreed. Of course with the [Black Alder Staff] in her possession, such an amount of HP was even smaller than her regular damage by a large margin.

Even though Xue Yan was the one to have made the last hit on the Guard Golem, it remembered Sato the best, as the guy who not only dismembered its jaws but also redid its look. It immediately dashed after him with the intent to kill.

Once Sato was just 5 metres away, the Guard Golem lifted its right hand, which also happened to be its only working hand, and punched at Sato.

[Solid Punch]!

"Old trick." Sato lightly smiled and easily dodged the punch. This was only possible thanks to his superior movement attributes and battle senses.

The Guard Golem was even further enraged to see that Sato easily dodged its punch. It ignored the fact that its left palm was injured and swung its left hand at sideways, in a bid to squash Sato.

But at this time, a glaring red beam was caught in it sights unintentionally. Because the Guard Golem was too focused on Sato due to its hatred, it once again ignored the other two and this act of ignorance was nothing more than the opportunity Xue Yan needed.

"Now, rest. [Fire Ray]!"