Chapter 1211: Astral Pursuit, Disruptive Stimulation

Judging from the information revealed by the Astral Wind stirred up by the other party, they are firm of mind, extremely greedy, bloodthirsty, and full of confidence; there will at least be one close-quarters battle.

Xia Duo gripped the Blade of Veto in his hand, his gaze locked tightly onto the leader of the hunters, who was wearing deep red armor.

At the same time, he followed the movement trend of the Radiant Domain around Suo En, maneuvering flexibly and maintaining a constant relative distance from both Kelifu and Suo En.

Soon, Xia Duo could clearly see the cold, emotionless gaze of the hunter leader, as well as the sharp, fearsome-looking fangs.

As for the pointed, long ears that looked extremely like an Elf's, and the rugged, collapsed, ugly nose shape, Xia Duo quickly glossed over them.

The other party had indeed slowed down, and with high efficiency; just by sweeping past Xia Duo and the others once, they reduced their speed to a level sufficient for close combat.

"Lord Xia Duo, remember to prioritize self-preservation!" Suo En reminded him once more, then ceased speaking, instead expanding the Radiant Domain to keep the three of them in constant motion.

Even though those dozen or so hunters had slowed down, they were still moving at high speed, while Suo En and Kelifu seemed unskilled in close combat, constantly dodging and only seizing opportunities to attack while maintaining a certain distance.

This situation reminded Xia Duo of aerial dogfights on Earth: one side constantly dodging, the other side constantly pursuing.

Fortunately, this group of hunters seemed to lack long-range attack methods, merely chasing and closing in, which gave the three of them an opportunity.

Of course, mainly Kelifu.

Xia Duo had originally thought that battle in the Astral Plane would be like in the Main Plane, with both sides starting a static positional battle; he had not expected such mobile combat.

The Blade of Veto combat technique he had prepared for so long might very well be useless!

But this was also fine; close combat was full of accidents, and Xia Duo did not have absolute confidence that he could defeat these hunters who were adept at fighting.

While moving, Xia Duo, while keeping his Protective Radiance active, also began to attempt attacks; he imitated Kelifu and fired a ray from his fingertips.

It was just that his ray dissipated on its own after flying less than ten meters from his fingertips, and its flight speed was not as extreme as the one Kelifu fired.

Xia Duo did not believe his mental will was weak; the fact that he could teleport in the Astral Plane by will alone was enough to prove his will was not weak. Perhaps Kelifu had mastered the true means of Astral Plane combat.

Xia Duo tried a few more times, but no matter how he tried, while the power could be increased, it was very difficult to increase the range of the Spell.

In other words, in the current situation, he could truly only protect himself; if one could not even hit the enemy with an attack, could it still be considered an attack?

For a moment, Xia Duo regretted coming out, but in a flash, he cut off this distracting thought; regardless, staying inside the Plane waiting for the result was always too passive.

"Lord Suo En, the other party's speed has dropped significantly. I am confident I can hit the members at the rear, but we will eventually be caught up to. Can we negotiate with them to stop here and go our separate ways?"

"No need, these bandits will not give up until they catch their prey!"

"I was just hoping, sigh!"

After the sigh, Kelifu fired a Scorching Sun Ray that directly hit a small figure at the rear of the hunter formation. That small figure tried to resist, but was instantly ignited by this lethal ray, turning into a human-shaped torch that fell completely behind.

"Catch you, and I will use your skull as a wine vessel!"

Behind them, the hunter leader in deep red armor immediately sent out a thought. The intense killing intent in this thought almost struck Xia Duo's mind directly; he actually saw countless white, bleached skulls displayed in a well-decorated cabinet.

This—

Xia Duo immediately gathered his focus, re-checked the Protective Radiance around his body, and gripped his sword tighter, using it to condense a more firm will.

Suo En was not affected at all, continuing to maintain the Radiant Domain and keeping the three in constant motion, while Kelifu continued to return fire with Scorching Sun Rays.

However, no matter how the three maneuvered, the absolute difference in speed meant the distance between the two sides was constantly shortening. Although there was still a considerable amount of time before they were finally caught, such an outcome was already destined.

On the other side, the hunter leader only threw out that one harsh threat and then said nothing more; after all, moving in the Astral Plane required maintaining that thought, and once distracted, it would be reflected in their speed, which might decrease.

Later, Xia Duo also realized this; his and Kelifu's movement relied mainly on Suo En's Radiant Domain, and in reality, they contributed very little effort themselves.

Thus, regardless of whether he could truly hit the enemy, he would occasionally fire a firework or create a loud noise behind him.

In the void of the Astral Plane, sound could not be well-conveyed, as if covered by a thick quilt; when both sides moved, their bodies remained static, and there was not a sound.

The sound Xia Duo suddenly created really gave those behind a fright, even causing their movement formation to become somewhat chaotic.

Moreover, he did not follow any pattern when creating sounds; he would be quiet for a while, then suddenly let one off. The fireworks, or flashes, were the same.

In any case, he could not let the other party have it easy; at the very least, he had to distract them.

Of course, before pulling these tricks, Xia Duo had greeted Suo En and Kelifu in advance; otherwise, if the enemy wasn't scared, but his own people were, that would be too tragic.

With Xia Duo's participation, although it was indirect combat, it truly delayed the time until they were caught. Although Suo En and Kelifu didn't say anything, Xia Duo could feel their approval.

Thus, he interfered even more diligently, even calling out personally. Although the two sides did not share a language, the mental wind constantly diffusing in the Astral void was mutually intelligible.

"Ugly dwarves, are you imitating Elves? Too bad it doesn't look much like it! Do you want me to teach you?"

Xia Duo had never imagined that after becoming a Senior Arcanist, he would have such an alternative "battle." However, with Suo En and Kelifu present, there were some things he couldn't say too crudely.

But even with such "refined" "pointers," that group of hunters couldn't take it, especially when it was mentioned that they were imitating Elves; the leader even drew his sword and pointed it at Xia Duo.

Although no long-range attack was launched, Xia Duo could still feel a chilling coldness from the other party's icy gaze.

"Oh no, if this stimulates them too much, will they all rush at me when close combat starts?"

Xia Duo had the heart to ask Suo En if they could re-enter the Plane to hide, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Fortunately, under Kelifu's constant attacks, out of the twelve hunters, three had already been lost. Among the remaining nine, besides the leader, the others were not in very good condition.

If it really came to close combat, he didn't have zero chance of winning.